Broken
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: Takes place after Living. Sometimes, it's easier to just leave things broken... Mang.
1. Chapter 1

Broken

Chapter 1

Fang and I hadn't had sex in months. I'm serious. Months. It was coming up on ten months, I think.

Moaning, I watched as Fang started kissing down my body. He smiled, starting to unbutton my jeans.

"Glad the sweatpants are gone," Fang mumbled, giving me a kiss above my bellybutton.

"Shut up," I said, wanting to kick him, but not wanting to ruin this.

"Finally alone," Fang mumbled under his breath. "And you tell me to shut up."

"Damn right."

He smiled, running a hand down my legs. "We're not really alone, Max. You have to keep it down, alright?"

I sighed. Chris, our baby, was here. He wasn't easy awaken though. Tyler was home too, somewhere in the house. He was grounded after getting into a fight the other day.

"Let's just get this over with before-"

His cell went off, making Fang groan, not at all happy. He got up and grabbed it off the dresser.

"What?" He sighed. "Tabitha- Well, no. Tab- What? Why does it- Can't you- Please- Fine, alright, fine!"

He hung up.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Tabitha got in an argument with that girl's house she was over at and now she wants to come home."

"Can't we at least-"

"Chill, Max," he said, going to pull on his shirt. "I'll take her to someone else's place or something."

"Fine, but hurry back," I said, pulling back on my bra.

"What? You can keep that off," he said, smiling at me.

"Just go," I said, getting up. "Besides, I'm going to check on Chris."

He gave me a kiss on the head before leaving. After finding all my clothes, I went into the room closes to ours, where Chris was.

"Hi, baby," I cooed, going over to his crib. The one and a half year old held up his arms for me, having just been sitting there, waiting. "You're a big boy, huh?"

Chris smiled. "Hi."

"You know whose birthday just past?"

He busied himself with my hair, ignoring the question.

"Jason's, Chris. You know that, huh?"

Nodding his head, he settled into my arms. "Ni-ni."

"Well, it's only four, baby," I told him.

Cameron offered to watch the store for us today, which probably was due to the fact that if she didn't, Damien would have dragged her to the zoo with him, Lucas, Samantha, and Neo. Cody and James had opted out, instead going to stay with Trinity for the day. Mom had Jason and Lance, which left us with Chris and Tyler, as Tabby had originally planned to spend this Friday night at Brenda, who is her new best friend's, house.

Chris didn't understand the concept of time so he just started whining until I laid him back down in the crib. Little brat. I was trying to be nice and pay some attention to him, but no. Whatever. I know that one person that always wants me around.

"Get out, Max!"

I was in shock. "What?"

Tyler frowned at me. "I don't wanna talk to you!"

What did I do? All that had happened was that I opened his door. Big whoop!

"Tyler, why are you mad at me?"

He pulled the covers up over his head, trying to pretend that I wasn't there.

"Ty? You're not mad about the Alex thing, right? You're grounded."

"I know! I don't eve care about that."

"Then what?"

"I don't want to talk to you," he said, turning under the covers to face the wall. "Just leave me alone."

"Tyler-"

"No."

Groaning, I walked out of his room. God, they're all little brats. I went to the living room to wait for Fang. When he got home, he still had Tabitha.

"Tabby, please? Don't you want to see Adeem today?"

"No," she said, stomping over to the couch. "Max, tell him that I can stay home."

"Stay, why would I care?"

"Thank you," she said before marching off upstairs. Fang sighed, looking at me.

"So are we still going to-"

"Fang, Tyler won't talk to me."

"Good," he said, coming over to me. "I want to be the only person you talk to tonight."

"Fang, stop," I said, pushing away his hands. "He's upstairs, in his room. Go talk to him."

"Max, I talked to him last week."

"Fang."

"I can't keep talking to him about things, Max. Then it'll start getting weird," he said. "I have to save up my energy for all the other boys."

"Just go talk to him."

* * *

><p>"Tyler?"<p>

"Go away."

Fang sighed. "I wish I could, but Max is worried about you. Go downstairs and tell her that you love her so that we can move on."

"No," he said, not coming out from under the covers.

Fang took a deep breath. "Tyler, what's wrong, huh?"

"Remember that stuff that we talked about?"

"Yeah," Fang said slowly.

"I-I think that it happened."

Fang wasn't sure what to say. "Oh."

"Yeah. I was getting ready to take a shower and-"

"Tyler-"

"No, look at it-"

"No, Tyler, don't-"

He got up and took off his shirt. "See?"

Fang was confused. "What?"

Tyler lifted up his arm. "See?"

"What?"

"Hair. I got a hair."

Fang let out a loud sigh. "That's all?"

He nodded. "Does that mean that all that other stuff is gonna happen now?"

Rolling his eyes, Fang said, "Just go tell Max that you're not upset with her, alright?"

"But what about-"

"Now."

Frowning, Tyler put back on his shirt and ran out of the room. Fang let out a long breath. Dodged a bullet with that one.

* * *

><p>Fang and I didn't get to have sex that night. Slowly, two by two, our kids came home. It was horrible. So now, we were in bed, Lance in between us and Chris on Fang's chest. This is why we can't have sex. We always have at least one kid in bed with us. It's so annoying.<p>

"Night, baby," Fang whispered sometime around eleven. I was already half asleep, but he was just now turning off the TV. He had been watching Forensic Files. "See you in the morning."

"Night," I whispered back, not even opening my eyes. "Wake me up at eight tomorrow, okay? I'll open the store at nine."

Fang nodded. "Take some of them to work with you."

"I will," I said, pulling Lance closer to me. "Hey, Fang?"

"Hmmm?"

"…We should try again, tomorrow after I get off."

"Whatever you want, Max."

* * *

><p>It was almost midnight, but Samantha couldn't sleep, which meant that Damien' couldn't either. After the day at the zoo, she crashed for about three hours before waking up. Cameron was not happy by this.<p>

"Samantha, if you don't be quiet-"

"No!" She frowned. "Me and Daddy gonna stay up all night."

"No, you're not," Cameron said. "Damien, go put her back in her own bed if she's going to talk."

"Cameron, come on."

"No, Damien."

He sighed, looking down at Sam. "Shhh, okay baby?"

"Mommy's mean," she said, cuddling against him. "Hide me, Daddy."

He sighed, giving her a kiss on the head. "Cameron, be nice, alright? She's just hyper."

"Whatever," Cameron said, putting her back to them. Peter got up and stretched before getting off the bed, not liking all of the activity. The bathroom door was closed, but the bedroom door was open. He was almost out of the door when he heard the breathing of Bubba. No way did he want to sleep out there with the dog.

"Back so soon?" Damien smiled as Peter jumped back into bed with them. Cameron rolled around to face them again so that she could start petting the cat.

"He's getting old, huh?"

Damien shrugged, not liking to think about it. "I guess, Cam. Hey, tomorrow I go in at noon. What are you and Sam going to do all day?"

"Go with you," Sam said. "Please, Daddy?"

"No," he said, giving her a kiss. "Mommy wants you at home."

"No, I don't," Cameron said, petting Peter. "Go, Samantha. Have fun."

"Cameron, I don't want to take her," Damien whispered though Samantha heard him.

"You don't wanna take me?" Samantha started crying.

"Stop," Cameron said, rolling her eyes. "Seriously, just stop."

Damien frowned at his wife, pulling the little girl even closer. "Be nice, Cam. She's three."

"Four, Damien. She just turned four last month."

"I know that, Cameron, but she still has a three year old mentality, so just be nice."

Groaning, she got out of bed, taking Peter with her. "Whatever, Damien."

After she was gone, Samantha moved away from him and into her mother's spot. "Mommy's mad."

"She's always mad," he said, pulling the blankets up around them. "I love you, Samantha."

"Love you too," she giggled. "Best Daddy ever."

"Ever?"

She nodded. "Favorit-est person."

He smiled, leaning over to give her a kiss. "Let's go to sleep, okay?"

"No," she whined. "Talk."

"Fine, talk while drifting off, okay?"

She smiled, pulling one of her stuffed animals to her. "Okay."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Bears."

He sighed. "What about bears?"

"I like their tails," she said, cuddling against her stuffed animal. "What about you?"

"Uh…their teeth, I guess."

Samantha gasped. "Teeth? The better to eat you with, my fear."

"Dear," he corrected. "Not fear."

"Shhh," she shushed. "Stop it. No correct me. I'm like Mommy."

He frowned. "I can correct Mommy if she's wrong."

"No," she said, shaking her head.

"Yes, I can."

"No, you can't."

He sighed. "Fine, whatever, Sam. Just go to sleep."

* * *

><p>"Max?"<p>

I groaned. "What?"

"I'm hungry."

"Then go make cereal, Tyler."

"I want eggs!"

"Go whine to your dad."

"He won't listen."

"Then I don't know what to tell you," I said, refusing to open my eyes. He went out of the room.

"Max?"

"What, Lance?"

"Gonna get up?"

"You go ahead. I'll be there in a second."

Lance got out of bed so that it was now just me, alone. I laid there for a long time before finally getting up. When I got into the living room, I was mad.

"Fang, you didn't wake me up like I told you," I said. Only Fang wasn't there. Mom was.

"He said that he tried to wake you up, but you wouldn't get up, so he went in for you," she said as she continued to play blocks with Chris. "Maybe if you weren't so lazy-"

"Not now, alright?" I went to go sit down on the couch. James, who was next to me, sent me a smile before going back to Pokemon. Cody was on the floor with Jason, playing with Fox. Neo and Lance were playing with plastic cars.

"Where's Tabby?" I asked, noting her absence. She was normally around to boss the boys around and play parent.

"Fang dropped her at her boyfriend's house."

"Ew," Cody said, making a face. "Why does Adeem like Tabitha? She's nasty."

"Be nice," I said as Lance got and walked over to me. He climbed into my lap, giggling.

"Hi," he said, cuddling against me. "Waked up."

"Yep," I told him, giving the boy a kiss on the head. "Mom, did Fang say if he wanted me to show up and-"

"I would, but I'm thinking from a kind, caring personality."

I really had had enough of her for a lifetime. So, against my better judgment, I showered and left to go head into work.

Work was different now. Fang and I own the store now. I mean, if you want to get technical, Luther's father did, but we were running it now. The atmosphere is more…laid back now.

"What are you doing here?"

I rolled my eyes at Fang. "It was my day, not yours."

Chris, who was in my arms, started wiggling until I gave him to Fang. Lucas got onto the stool until I told him to get down and let me sit.

"Hey, Chris," Fang said, giving him a kiss. He smiled, cuddling against his father. Lucas frowned.

"You don't hold me no more."

"You're seven, Lucas, not a baby," Fang said, rolling his eyes.

"No!"

I sighed. "Come here, Luke."

He was heavy, but he did still fit in my lap. I wrapped my arms around him. Lucas smiled. "Okay, I'm good now."

Frowning, I let him go and he ran off. Fang rolled his eyes. "Your mom's with the other kids still?"

"Yeah," I said. "Fang, why didn't you just wake me up? She called me lazy again."

He sighed. "Max, come on. Why can't you and your mom just get along?"

"Because she hates me."

"She does not and you know it."

Chris started whining. Fang frowned. "What, Chris? What's wrong?"

"He's probably sleepy," I said. "Why don't you go home, Fang? You can take Chris back too. I thought that he would be okay, but apparently not."

He sighed, getting. "You sure that you'll be okay here, Max?"

"Of course," I said, nodding towards my son, who was running around the store, pretending to be a superhero. "I have Lucas to protect me."

Fang glanced over at him. "Oh, I'm reassured now."

* * *

><p>Adeem was sitting on his bed, watching as Tabitha sat on the floor, working on the poster they needed to do for science class.<p>

"You have to help with something," Tabitha complained.

"I did! My mom bought the poster board and markers. I'm done."

"That was your mom, not you. Where you even with her when she did it?"

"No."

"Alright then."

"What do you want? A prize?"

"Shut up, Adeem."

He frowned. "You're annoying and whiny. Just do the stupid project."

"Why don't you?"

"Because I'm busy."

"Doing what? Being a jerk?"

"Shut up and do it. Geez, you're such a bitch."

Tabitha ignored that. Adeem had formed a sudden obsession with curse words, his favorite two being bitch and damn. He even called his mother bitch behind her back, so Tabitha wasn't too offended.

"Hey, Adeem?"

He went back to staring at the ceiling. "What?"

"I hate you."

"Good, I hate you too."

She shook her head, continuing to write down the stuff on the posters. They were both quiet for a little bit. Then Adeem got up and sat down next to her.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked.

Tabitha ordered him around, not even commenting on his sudden willingness to do her bidding. He was remorseful for being a jerk to her. She knew that, no need to rub it in. It was just as true either way.

"I need you to cut out the pictures and glue them on the poster."

"All of them?"

"Just do it."

He sighed, but listened to her.

* * *

><p>Daddy was home. Everyone loved when Daddy was home. Except for Tyler and Tabitha, but they didn't count. They were older. All the others loved it.<p>

"Look, Daddy."

"No, Fang, play with me. Jason's stupid," Neo said.

James jumped off the couch and landed on Fang. "Let's go outside."

Fang groaned, putting James on the ground. "Who wants to outside?"

James raised his hand along with Neo. Fang shook his head.

"No, no one else wants to but Neo," Fang told James, looking at Jason. "What did you want me to look at?"

The three year old held up the picture he was drawing. It was really just scribbles, but Fang still gave Jason a kiss and told him that it was beautiful.

"That's a girl word," Neo told Fang.

Cody crawled up onto the couch. "Shhh, Neo. I'm sleeping."

"No."

"Yes," Cody said, laying down. James got up and went into the kitchen.

"What are you doing, James?" Fang called, starting to roll around on the ground with Lance. He giggled.

"Getting a drink," James said, walking back into the room with a cup. "Want some?"

"No thanks, bud," Fang said, letting Lance go. "Has anyone seen Tyler?"

"He's in his room," James said, getting onto the couch with Cody. "I'm hungry, Fang."

"I'll make you guys something, just chill for a bit, alright?"

All the boys nodded. If it was Max, they would have whined and cried, because that would have gotten them their way. With Fang, it just got them yelled at and forced to stay in their own rooms. That was no fun.

Fang laid on his back. Giggling, Chris crawled onto his chest.

"Hi," he said, giggling when Fang gave him a kiss.

"Hi, Chris," Fang said, running a hand down his head. "What are you doing?"

Chris, who wasn't very good at answering questions that didn't end in yes or no, just giggled. He rubbed his head against Fang's chest. Smiling, Fang gave him a kiss.

"I love you, Chris. You know that? Huh?"

"Yes," Chris said. Now that was his type of question.

"Where's Lucas?" Cody asked.

"Thoughts was you sleepin'?" Neo asked suspiciously.

"Am," Cody said before looking at Fang. "Where is he?"

"With Mommy," Fang said, still looking down at Chris. The youngest was starting to fall back asleep. "Tired?"

Though the question had been directed at Chris, Lance answered. "No."

Fang sighed. "What do you guys want to do then? I'm bored."

"Outside," James mumbled looking down into his cup. He had gotten cherry Kool-Aid. Max wouldn't let him take anything red or purple out of the kitchen, saying that she'd never get the stains out. His tummy hurt for disobeying her, but she wasn't there, so did it really matter?

"I already said no to that," Fang grumbled, his patience starting to wane.

James stared back down at his cup, forcing himself not to cry. He had heard Max and Fang talking once, and Fang called him wimpy, that Max babied him. James didn't want to look wimpy to Fang, but he was upset. Why did Fang snap at him so much?

"James is crying," Cody ratted out. "Okay, James? Need blanket?"

"No!" James sniffled loudly. "I'm not crying!"

Fang sighed. "James, I didn't mean to make you upset. We're just not going outside today, okay?"

"Okay," James mumbled, still looking into his cup. Fang was so much nicer to everyone else. It wasn't fair. James loved Fang just as much as the rest of them.

* * *

><p>A few days passed with little difference from one another. Then, on a Wednesday, Tyler started acting strange again. It was his first day back to school after being suspended from that fight. When he came home, he wasn't angry. See, we had been letting Tyler and Tabitha ride the bus home, as they no longer went to the elementary school. Besides, I had Lucas, James, and Cody in the car still to pick up.<p>

So anyways, Tyler was acting funny. He wasn't yelling at me like he was that one night, he was just…happy. I know it sounds weird that I'm freaked about his happiness, but it was just odd.

"What's up with your brother?" I asked Tabitha after he and the other boys were all gone and it was just us.

"I'll tell you for a cell phone."

"You're too young," I said, getting a coke out of the fridge.

"How about a laptop?"

"Nope," I said, sitting down across from her at the table. "Now tell me."

She sighed, staring down at the homework she was doing. "I don't know. I guess he's just happy about Jessica."

My interest was sparked. "Who's Jessica?"

"This girl. I hate her."

"Tabitha."

She sighed. "Jeff said that Kenny said that Tamara said that she likes him."

I frowned. "So what?"

"She likes him, Max!"

"Yeah, I heard you," I said, taking a sip of my coke. So what if some girl likes him? They're, like, ten. "Hey, Tabby, what do you think about burgers for dinner?"

"That's fine," she said. "Max? How do you multiply decimals?"

"Hell if I know," I said, getting up. "Wait till Fang gets home and ask him."

I went to go see what all the boys were doing. Chris, Jason, and Lance were napping, while James, Cody, and Lucas were doing homework. Truly, James and Cody didn't really have that hard of homework. They were in kindergarten, so they really only had to write down their abc's.

"I don't like homework," Cody told me. "It's too hard."

"Yeah," James agreed. "I don't wanna be in school no more, Max."

I went and gave them both a kiss on the head. The room situations here were getting tight for awhile, but now they were working out. Tabitha still had her own, and Tyler shared with Lucas still. Then we have the nursery downstairs with Chris and Lance. Cody and James still have this bedroom and now Neo and Jason share Gasman's old room.

After helping them a little, I went to check on Lucas and Tyler. Ty was reading a comic and Lucas was finishing his homework.

"Did you do your homework, Tyler?"

"Yes."

"Tyler."

"I'll do it later."

"No, now."

Normally, he would whine when I made him do his homework. He didn't this time. Huh. I think I like this Jessica kid after all. Next I went into Neo and Jason's room.

"Hi, Max," Neo called out. He was jumping on his bed.

"I told you not to do that," I said, going over to him. Jason was sitting on the floor, playing with toy trucks.

"Vroom," he said, pushing a race car across the floor. Then he grabbed the fire truck and drove it over my freaking foot.

"Jason!"

"Sorry," he said, still playing. "Gots to get to fire, Mommy. Fireman. Vroom. Fire truck."

Neo got off the bed, but just started bouncing on the floor. "Guess what, Max!"

"What?"

"Daddy come home!" He kept bouncing.

Gasman no longer lived with us, obviously. His plans to go to college were crushed, however, when he didn't get accepted. For a month, he sat around the house moping. Then he left for New York, planning to take Neo with him. Fang talked him out of it and we kept the baby. No matter what Fang says, he's more attached to the kids than I am. Tammie at one time was trying to get James back, but I fought her about it. I was about to give up, though, when she decided to leave again. If I was sure he would have been alright, I would have been fine with her taking him. Like I knew Neo would be fine with Gasman. Fang, didn't though. He thought that only he could care for the boys.

"Yep," I said, picking him up. Gasman had spent Christmas and New Years in New York with his girlfriend. He met her a few months ago and this would be the first time that any of us met her. He'd be here in a few days.

"Vroom," Jason giggled, now playing with an ambulance.

Neo laid his head on my shoulder. "Miss Daddy."

"I know," I said, bouncing him a little. "You're getting heavy, Neo. How old are you gonna be in July? Huh?"

"Four," he said, giggling.

Jason made a loud noise. "Mommy, need S'arky."

"Huh?"

"S'arky. Fire truck dog. Gonna be good dog. Need 'im."

I sighed. "I don't have a dog for you to play with, Jason. Why can't you use one of your stuffed animals?"

"No gots s'ots. Fire dog need s'ots."

"Dal'nation," Neo said. "Need Dal'nation."

"Dalmatian," I corrected. "Jason, I think that Lucas has a stuffed Dalmatian. Go ask him for one."

Jason ran off to do so. Giggling, Neo said, "Daddy miss me?"

"Of course he does," I said, walking out of the room. Because he had to. I mean, there's no way in hell I'd leave any of my kids behind and move, but that doesn't mean that Gasman doesn't missed him, right?

"Good," Neo said, smiling at me. "Good."

* * *

><p>Sometimes, when Fang's alone at the store, he gets really sad. At home, with all the kids, pets, and Max, it's hard to feel lonely. But here, where dead memories trudge alone every square inches, sometimes it's easy to get a little cold.<p>

Though it might not have seemed like it, Fang really did care about Bone and Luther. They were his best friends. He saw them at the worst and his kids brought them to their best. Then, just a quickly, they were brought right back down again. And why? Because God got bored up there in Heaven and missed watching the two of them live in a personal Hell? Was that it? Is that why Victoria had to die? Was that why Tammie had to break Luther and he her?

When it's really quiet, as it is for the most part, Fang can imagine that maybe, just maybe, it's a few years ago, before Tommy had died, before Lucas was born, even before Tyler got sick. Those few months with Max right before that were the best of his life. That's not to say that he didn't love the kids that he had since then, but there was just something about that time that was different. It was magical almost. And yeah, maybe his memory is fuzzy and maybe he's just looking back with nostalgia clouding his mind, but there was just something there.

Absently, Fang started tapping his fingers against the counter in time to one of Bone's favorite songs. In his head, those songs didn't seem so bad anymore. For a minute, Fang almost thought about going into the back and finding one of Bone's old CD's and putting it in, just for old time's sakes. He didn't though. He wouldn't. If he did that, the memory would be scarred and he wouldn't be able to get it back. Sometimes, it's better to think back on memories than try to recreate them. That just ruins them.

* * *

><p><strong>I know I said that I wouldn't, but I couldn't help myself.<strong>** This story wouldn't leave my mind. I've written about five first chapters and tossed them out. Yes, this is how I've spent the last two weeks. Yeah, I have no life. **


	2. Chapter 2

Broken

Chapter 2

You know, when I found out Fang had kids, I wasn't happy, but I took care of them. And I loved them. I knew that I was going to be his girlfriend, so I had to be a good stepmother to his kids. Apparently, Gasman didn't look for that same quality in his girlfriends.

Fang frowned. "Yeah, well, that's just what kids do."

Neo cried louder, holding onto me. Gasman looked torn between comforting Neo and coming to the aid of Juliet, a not so fitting name.

"Do you still have to throw up?" I whispered in Neo's ear, glad that he hadn't gotten any on him when he first did, only Juliet.

This all started when Gasman said that he didn't need us to pick him up from the airport. Not that big of deal, right? Well, Neo had counted on seeing him there so that he could see a plane or something, so that already had him upset. Then, they knocked on the door, and Jason and Lance got so excited that it riled him up too. Then, when that wore off, he got nervous and threw up all over his dad's girlfriend. Of course, that couldn't be the end. She just had to curse at him and make Fang hate her. It's like the law of life or something.

"Come on, Julie," Gasman took her hand as Tabitha handed her a towel. "I'll show you to the bathroom."

After they were gone, Tabitha had gotten another towel and was starting to clean up the floor.

"Baby, I'll do that," I said.

"I got it."

Fang shook his head. "I don't like her, Max."

"Not in front of the kids," I mumbled, still focused on Neo. He just got nervous, that's all.

James frowned, watching Tabitha. "It's green, Max. Like grass."

Jason giggled. "Can I touch it?"

"No,' Fang said sharply. He was in a foul mood now. "Go play in your room, boys."

"Finally," Tyler said, running off up the stairs. "I don't like her either, just so you know."

"Tyler Reese, shut your mouth," I said as I sat Neo on the ground. "You go play too, Neo."

Once he was gone, the other boys slowly took their toys and went up stairs too. After she finished cleaning up the puke, Tabitha picked up Chris and took him to his bedroom for me.

"This is just great," I mumbled to Fang, going to sit down next to him on the couch. Lance hadn't left and was still sitting there playing with his blocks.

"Lance, you go too," Fang grumbled, putting his head in his hands.

He got up. "Bye-bye, Max. Bye-bye, 'ang."

Tabitha came back into the living room, but immediately went to the kitchen and then the garage.

"It's not his fault," Fang said, suddenly deciding that I was stupid. "He's just a baby."

"I know, Fang."

He got up and went upstairs. Ten minutes later, Gasman and Juliet came back downstairs.

"Where is everybody?" Gazzy asked me, looking around.

"Upstairs," I told him.

"Well, let's go then, Jonathan," she said, pulling on Gasman's hand. I frowned for a second before realizing that she probably knew his name, but just called him by something else. Yeah, calling out Gasman as you climax isn't all that great, I guess… "We can go check into the hotel."

Gasman was weavering. "I wanted to hang out with Neo. I haven't seen him since-"

"You can do that later," she said. "Come on, let's go."

"Don't you have to call a cab?" I asked her. Apparently, Gasman had gone into his old closet and pulled out a shirt for her to wear. It was some band t-shirt. Whoever the hell Silverstein is…

"We got a rental," she said, finally getting him to follow her.

"Bye, Max, I guess," Gasman said lamely. "I'll see you later. Tell Neo and the other boys I said bye."

"I will," I said, shaking my head as he left.

* * *

><p>Fang was going through his Dragon Ball Z card when James walked into the attic.<p>

"Hey, James," Fang said, not looking up. "What are you doing?"

"Come to find you," he said, walking over to Fang. "What are you doing?"

"Looking at my cards."

James climbed into his lap. "Neo's not crying no more."

"He ain't?"

"Nope."

"That's good," Fang said, putting on arm over James, but still using the other to look at his cards. "Today's Saturday, right?"

"Yep."

"Alright," Fang said, shaking his head. He had a Heroclix tournament on Monday. Max was finally letting him go to those again. "Are you going to church with Dan and Trinity tomorrow?"

"No," James said, shaking his head. "Tyler is."

"I know. He always does."

James giggled, leaning against Fang. "Cody doing his homework."

"Oh yeah? Why aren't you doing yours?"

"Finished."

"What did you have to do?"

"Abc's again. I hate them."

"Yeah, I know," Fang commented, shaking his head. "Wanna go get me something to eat?"

"What?" James asked, getting out of Fang's lap.

"There's some left over pizza in the fridge. Get me that. And a coke."

"Okay," James said, running off. Fang smiled. James might act like a baby, but he listened a lot better than the other boys.

* * *

><p>"What are you doing?"<p>

James smiled at me, opening the refrigerator. "I have to get Fang food. He's hungry, Max."

"Is he?" I was now doing dishes. Fang was already in a bad mood about the puke thing, no need to get that anger turned onto me. "Remind him that we're eating lunch soon."

"He knows that, Max. Fang knows everything."

Of course he does. I shook my head. "James, you don't always have to do what Fang asks you to, you know. You should have made him come get his own food."

James frowned, pulling the pizza box out of the fridge and setting it on the ground. He took two of the pieces out and sat them on the ground too. I almost reprimanded him, but this was Fang he was giving it too. He deserved dirty pizza for some reason or another, I'm sure.

"James, you know not to put anyone else's pizza on the ground, right?" I asked. "Namely mine?"

He giggled, putting the rest of the pizza away. He grabbed the last cold coke out of the fridge, but went ahead and put more in.

"Fang eats it cold?" He asked me.

"Sure," I said. The heat would kill only the germs, so why not? "You're a good helper, James."

"I know," he said, walking out of the room with the cold, nasty pizza. Shaking my head, I finished washing the dishes and then went out back to get the dog fresh water. Tank was happy to see me, but was too lazy to get up. Rolling my eyes, I got him water and rubbed his stomach a little before going back inside. I went to find Neo.

"What are you guys doing?"

Neo and Cody looked up. "Building a fort."

"What about your homework, Cody?"

He smiled. "Finished."

"Really?"

"Really."

They were in Neo and Jason's room. I sighed. "Where's Jay?"

"With Tabby," Neo said. "James no here."

"He's with Fang," I said, watching the two of them for a minute. "So you guys are okay?"

"Yes," Cody said, nodding his head.

"Are you, Neo?"

He nodded. "Where's Daddy?"

"He and Juliet went out."

Neo frowned. "No stay to play?"

"He'll be back," I said. "Promise."

* * *

><p>Samantha cocked her head to the side. "Like candy?"<p>

"No," Damien said, sniffling. "It's a cough drop, Sam."

"Makes you cough?"

No, that would have made to much sense. "No."

"Sick?" She asked, still watching him. "I'mma doctor."

"I'm sure," Damien mumbled. "Sam, go get my cell. I need to call Mommy."

Samantha ran off to do that, also making a stop by her bedroom to get the toy vet kit that Max had bought her for her birthday. Sure, Daddy's not an animal, but it would have to do.

"Thanks, baby," he said, taking the phone from her when she got back. As he called Cameron, Samantha sat down on the ground and started going through her vet stuff.

"I'm at work, idiot."

Cameron could be so loving when she wanted to be, which was never. "I'm sick, Cameron."

She paused. "Of me? I didn't really mean-"

"No, Cam. I woke up an hour ago and still feel terrible."

"So you're sure that you're sick? Do you have a fever?"

"I don't think so," Damien said. "Hey, can I take kids medicine? We don't have anything, but stuff for Sam."

Cameron sighed. "Damien, I don't know. Are you contagious?"

"Like I would know."

"Damien, don't get an attitude with me. You're the one that went and got sick."

"Yes, Cameron, that's exactly how it happened. I went around and asked to get sick. You're so-"

"Damien, shut up, alright? Why did you even call me? I'm at work. I can't come home and baby you."

"I know that, Cameron," he said, frowning a little. "I just wanted you to know that I'm home, sick, and that when you get off you need to come straight home."

"Okay, whatever, Damien."

He sighed. "Bye, I guess."

Cameron paused for a moment. "Feel better, okay? I know you want me to come straight home, but I'm going to stop by the store and get you some medicine. Feel better, omen."

Smiling a little, he told her that he loved her and hung up. When he looked back down at Samantha, she had a toy thermometer and was looking at him with interest.

"What?" Damien asked.

"Mommy said that thermometers don't only go in the mouth. Where do you want yours?"

God help him.

* * *

><p>When Gazzy came back, it was late. Around six.<p>

"We were waiting to eat dinner with you, you know," Fang grumbled. "We waited and now they're all starved. Use your head a little, alright?"

Gasman sighed. "Sorry."

I went to the stairs. "Boys and Tabitha, come eat!"

Tabitha came down the stairs carrying Chris. "Here, Max."

I took him from her. "How are you, Chris?"

He moaned, cuddling against me.

"Are you good?"

"Yes."

"Alright," I said, walking into the kitchen. Tyler ran in after me.

"Max-"

"No running in the house."

"I almost starved to death," he complained. "What's for dinner? Not hotdogs, right?"

"Nope," I said. "Pizza."

"Again?"

"Tyler, as soon as you get a job and make money, I'll let you pick what you want for dinner every night, alright?"

"Fine! When my band takes off, you'll wish that you never said that. I'm cutting you out of my will."

"You have to be dead to have that go into affect."

"Maybe I'll die soon. I am going in for my checkup next week."

I almost hit him. "Tyler, don't joke about things like that."

He frowned. "It's my body. I can make jokes about what I want."

"Just shut up, okay?"

Lucas walked into the room. "I want you all to know that I hate you."

Great, he's Tyler. Gasman and his girlfriend walked in before Lucas could explain why. Chris looked at Juliet with interest.

"Hi," he said, giggling.

"Here, you want to hold him?" I offered. He was starting to get heavy.

"Uh, no," she said, looking at him with obvious disgust. I think that I can go ahead and say that she doesn't want kids nor like them.

Neo ran in with Jason. "Hi, Daddy!"

He ran over to Gasman and hugged his leg. Smiling, Gazzy picked him up. "Hey, Neo."

"Sorry I gots sick," he mumbled, wrapping his arm around his father's neck. "No do it no mores."

"It's fine, Neo," he said. "Perfectly fine."

* * *

><p>Fang and I were cleaning up. After dinner, Neo got really upset when it was time for Gasman to leave. He wanted to go too. Gasman almost said yes, but Juliet made him say no. Do I have proof of this? No. But when have I ever had proof for any of my accusations?<p>

"I told you that I didn't like her," Fang said, wiping down the table where Cody had spilt his juice.

I leaned against the counter. "She'll warm up to Neo."

"I guess," Fang said, shaking his head. "Hey, wanna go have sex?"

"Fang."

"What?"

I rolled my eyes. "You just say it so blatantly."

"What? I love having sex with you."

"Max?"

We both turned and saw Neo. I frowned at Fang.

"What's wrong, baby?"

He ran over to me. "Daddy no like me?"

I picked him up. "Who said that?"

"Tyler."

Fang sighed. "Tyler's just a brat. Of course he likes you."

"Like Julie better?"

"No," I said, kissing his head. "How could he? You're the best, Neo."

He nodded his head. "Yeah. Best."

"You want to sleep in bed with us?" I asked him, ignoring Fang's crestfallen face. "Huh?"

"Yeah," he said, wrapping his arms around me. "Now?"

"Sure," I said, walking out of the room, a now sullen Fang following right behind. "Check on the other kids, Fang."

"Don't I get a please?"

"No," I said, going into our bedroom, closing the door behind me. Neo giggled.

"Max rude."

"No, just demanding," I said, laying him down. "Wanna watch TV or are you tired?"

"TV," he said. Sighing, I went and turned it on, putting it on some cartoon before going into the bathroom to change. Fang came in while I was getting undressed.

"You check on all of them?" I asked as he started to brush his teeth. Fang nodded his head before spitting in the sink.

"Yeah," he said. "You wanna work tomorrow or me?"

"I will," I offered. "Gasman said something about taking Neo out, so don't plan on taking him anywhere."

"I'm not," Fang said, walking out of the room. "Tomorrow is a sleep day."

"Is it?"

"Yeah."

"Me too."

"You're at the store," he said as I walked out into the room.

"I know, huh?"

He smiled, getting into bed. Neo had already fallen asleep. Sighing a little, I turned off the TV before getting into bed with him.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too," Fang said, running a hand down Neo's back. "See you in the morning."

"Yeah, the morning."

* * *

><p>I was up at the store. I had to wake up early this morning to get Tyler ready for when Dan picked him up for church. Tyler was still in a good mood about Jessica, so it was pretty simple. The only sad thing that now he and Jessica like each other? I hadn't heard a thing about Alex.<p>

"I think that I'm going to be a writer when I grow up," Lucas decided suddenly. As seemed the norm now, he was up at work with me.

"Why's that?" I asked him, half asleep.

"Because they make lots of money."

"Eh, I don't know, Lucas," I said, shaking my head. "The ones that become best sellers all suck. It's like bands. The best ones are the ones that only a handful of people know about."

Lucas was too young to understand me. "Yeah…or maybe a racecar driver."

And that's when I fell asleep. It was probably an hour later that Cameron came in and woke me up.

"Hey, Max," she said.

"Hey," I said. "Hi, Samantha."

She giggled. "Daddy's sick."

"He is?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Gonna get his books for him."

"Lucas, go get Damien's stuff."

"I come," Samantha said, following him.

"Damien's sick?" I asked Cameron, stretching a little.

"Yeah. He felt bad yesterday and worse today."

"So you're taking care of him?" I asked, holding in a laugh. Cameron had a really short patience level with Damien, or anybody for that matter.

"Yeah," she said, frowning at me. "God, he's such a baby."

"Cameron, come on. Is he sick sick or just sick?"

"He's fine," she said, rolling her eyes, Samantha came back, following right behind Lucas. She had seemed to form some sort of crush on him, though sometimes it bounced to Tyler, if he was in a good mood that day. Today, though, Lucas was clearly her main priority.

"I'm a good vet," Samantha went on as he put the two boxes on the counter. "Best vet ever."

"No," Lucas said, not realizing that she was just trying to make herself seem cool in front of him. "My granny is."

I rolled my eyes, ringing Cameron up. "Be nice, Lucas."

"I am!" He seemed to be fed up with Samantha, as he normally was. She always wanted to follow him around and I'm sure it had to get annoying. "Samantha's the one being annoying."

"No!" She pushed him. "You're annoying."

"See?"

"Don't push," Cameron told Samantha, handing me forty bucks. "What all does he have anyways?"

"Uh," I looked at the box. "Two mangas, three movies, two packs of Dragon Ball Z cards, twenty new action figures-"

"Okay, enough," she said, shaking her head.

Lucas walked away, going to go back to playing with his toys. Samantha followed him.

"Stop following me! You can't play," he said, frowning at her.

Samantha pushed him again. "Can too!"

"No," he said.

"Yes!"

This time, he pushed her. The only difference is that he is way bigger than her. Samantha fell down and started crying.

"Lucas!"

"She pushed me first," he said, not caring in the least that she might be hurt.

With no sympathy in her voice, Cameron said, "Get up, Samantha."

"No!"

"Now."

Still crying a little, she stood up. Cameron took her change from me before grabbing the boxes and walking out of the store. "Come on, Sam. You pushed him first. Twice. You get what you ask for."

She sniffled loudly before following her mom out of the store. Cameron might not have cared, but I did.

"Lucas, don't you ever push someone. And if you're going to, don't you ever let it be a girl. You hear me?"

"You said that girls are equal."

"Yeah, I know."

"Then you lied."

"Get used to it."

* * *

><p>After church was over and he was home, Tyler decided he should probably start on his project. It was about two days late now, but better late than never.<p>

"What are you doing?" Tabitha asked him as he came into her room, looking for something.

"I need markers."

"You don't got any?"

"Nope," he said. "Give me some."

Groaning loudly, she went to her dresser and grabbed a box off the top. "Fine, but you're just getting the normal ten pack. No smelling ones and definitely not the twenty-five pack."

"Does it got red and blue?"

Tabitha nodded. The idiot… "Yes, Tyler."

"Alright then," he said, taking them.

"What are you doing anyways?"

"Working on a project."

"What do you gotta do?"

"I'm not sure," he said, frowning. "But I know I'll need markers. Oh, and a ruler. And glue. Do you have a poster board? That too."

Sighing, she went to her closet. She always had a few poster boards. Mainly because whenever Fang went to the store and had to get her one, he'd freak about what color to get her. Blue because there is not gender for colors? What about pink? Or is that being sexist? Maybe an orange? White or black? Why is it that no one ever buys black? Racism maybe? God, is he turning into Luther? Anyways, she always had a poster board.

"How come you always make Adeem's mom buy stuff if you got this many?" Tyler asked as he took a red one.

"Because I need to save mine," she said, getting him a glue stick, ruler, and scissors. "Spell scissors, Tyler."

He frowned. "Shut up."

Giggling, she went back over to her bed. "When's the project due?"

"Are you going to ask me how to spell due too?"

"I don't know. Do you know how?"

"It's due Thursday."

"And you're already working on it?"

"Last Thursday."

"Max is gonna yell at you," Tabitha sang.

"Well, she can get over it."

"Dad's gonna hit you with his belt."

"He can get over it too."

"Sure, go tell him that."

Stomping away, Tyler left with his supplies. Now, if only he knew what the project was over…

* * *

><p>Gasman smiled at Neo. "You like your burger, buddy?"<p>

"Yeah," Neo said, frowning at it. How is it that your get a burger all nice looking and then the lettuce falls out the back and the ketchup ends up on your nice shirt that Max washed for you? It wasn't right, it just wasn't right.

"Good," he said, smiling at him. Juliet hadn't come with them so the atmosphere was a lot less tense. "How have you been?"

"Good," Neo said, finally giving up on figuring out one of lives toughest inquires. "Share a room with Jason. He's funny."

"Is he?"

"Yep," Neo said, nodding his head. "I gotta be a good big brother, though."

Gasman frowned. "Who said that he was your brother?"

"Fang."

"You know that he's kidding, right?"

Neo just nodded again. "Yeah. Love him."

"Who? Jason or Fang?"

Giggling, he said, "Both."

"So you like living with Max and Fang?"

"Yes," he said in earnest. "So much."

"You don't think that there's too many other kids? Wouldn't you rather just live in a house with-"

"No," Neo said, not letting him finish. "Love my family."

Gasman sighed. "Neo, I was thinking about something."

So was Neo. Now that he was over the burger thing, he was wondering about ketchup. Why did it taste so good? Did they put candy in it? Chocolate maybe? Dr. Martinez's cookies? "What?"

"About you living there."

Neo ate a fry, giggling. He loved French fries. Though, one time, Tyler went on a frenzy of calling them freedom fries and making everyone else call them that too or else he'd have one of his fits, kind of like a baby. That's what Tyler was. A baby.

"It's just, you're my boy, right?"

Neo looked up and nodded. "Yeah."

"And I want you to live with me. Do you want to live with me?"

Daddy would probably let him take a bath with his shoes on, something Max refused to allow him to do. "Yes."

"Alright," Gasman relaxed, having feared the worse. "Good."

"Yeah," Neo said. "Gonna move into Tabby's room with her? With me and Jay? Chris and Lance?"

"What? No, buddy," he said, shaking his head. "I meant that I want you to come live out in New York with me."

Neo frowned. "No Max?"

"No."

"No Fang?"

"No."

"No family?"

"I'm your family, Neo. I'm your daddy."

"No family?" He repeated.

Gasman sighed. "No."

Then he started crying loudly. He felt like James, crying like this, but Daddy was trying to take him away from Max. From Fang. From Jason. From Chris and Lucas and Lance and James and Cody. He was even upset about Tabitha, even though she was bossy , and Tyler, even though he was mean. Why was Daddy doing this? It wasn't fair!

"No!" Neo started scream, no longer caring about his food. "No take 'way me family! No like water on my shoes! Max right, Max right. Max! Max!"

Gasman rushed to take him to the bathroom, not wanting him to cry in front of everybody. Why didn't he son want to live with him? What was so great about living with Max and Fang and all their kids and tag-alongs?

* * *

><p>Fang sighed. "I don't know, Max."<p>

"Maybe it's not good, you know? Gasman is his father."

"Says who? Just because it's his DNA doesn't mean that he can take him whenever he wants. If that were true, Lydia could one up you any day."

I sighed. "Fang, I just meant-"

"I know what you meant and you're wrong," Fang said. "It'd be one thing if Neo wanted to go, but he doesn't. He would die without the other boys."

I shook my head. "What about James, Fang? And Lance? They aren't ours. You know that, don't you? We don't have any holding on them."

"That's not right, Max! We take care of them, spend ever Goddamn pay check on them and their needs so that when they asshole parents come back we can just give them up? How is that fair? Huh? Huh?"

"It's no, Fang," I said, looking away form him. "And stop yelling-"

"I'm going to fucking yell if I want to yell!"

I sat down on the edge of the bed, watching him carefully. "Fang, do you not think that Gasman is capable of taking care of Neo?"

"No, Max, you know what, I don't."

I shrugged. "I think he is."

"Yeah, well he isn't," Fang said, crossing his arms. "He'll let that bitch run his life and ruin Neo's. He's weak minded. He's not a father. He's just a stupid kid that wanted to look like a great guy, keeping his baby. Yeah, well, that great guy is an ass that thinks he can take what I raised. Well, news flash, he can't."

"But he can, Fang. And Gasman is not weak minded."

"Oh, yes he is. He so is."

"Says who?"

"Me and that's all that matters."

I shook my head. "Fang, come on."

"Fine, Max, you go tell Neo that you don't love him enough to fight for him."

"There is no fighting, Fang! Gasman already said to forget about it, that Neo doesn't want to. I was just talking about when Bone and Luther come back and want their-"

"Their what, Max? I know your not going to say sons because they don't have any. Not one. Bone was always talking about who deserved a kid and who didn't, well now he doesn't. He had his chance and blew it."

"Fang-"

"No one's taking them from me, us. No one."

I laid down. "You're just boneheaded, Fang. That's part of growing up. We might not always be the ones that have them, but we'll always care about them. Neo doesn't have to live in my house for me to care about him. I don't have to be the woman that tucks in him at night to be the one that loves him the most." I rolled over onto my stomach. "And we need to think about what we could do to his brain by not forcing him to be around his father. And what about our own kids, Fang?"

"What about them?"

"You don't think that they don't deserve a home that isn't filled to the brim? You don't think that they need more of our attention sometimes? We're pulled to the breaking point, Fang."

"So what?" Fang was angry with me now. "As far as I'm concerned, they're all our kids."

I shook my head. "Shut up, Fang. You're refusing to listen to any of the points I'm making and are just being a jerk. Go screw yourself."

"Might as well seeing as you won't fuck with me anymore."

I scoffed at him, rolling my eyes heavily. "Fuck you then, Fang. Maybe if we didn't have a million kids interrupting us, we could have sex. But no, you want them here, right?"

Fang slammed the bedroom door on his way out. Whatever. I needed some sleep anyways.


	3. Chapter 3

Broken

Chapter 3

**February **

I haven't seen Alex in forever. I never thought that I'd miss the days when Tyler was antisocial, but I was starting to. True, it had only been about a month, but still.

"Happy birthday, Tabitha," Neo said, giggling. "I made you a-"

"Go away, Neo," she said, glaring at him. "Max, you said that he would leave."

"He is," I said. "Fang's taking all the boys away."

"Except me," Lucas said.

"No, not except you," I told him. Tabitha and Tyler were having a birthday party. And Tyler actually had friends to invite! I was excited. Kind of… As far as I knew, Alex wasn't coming. I tried to ask Tabitha about it, but she just blew me off, saying that Tyler's life was his business. She really didn't care all the much.

"Yes! Make her let me stay, Adeem," Lucas pleaded.

Adeem shrugged from the couch. "Let him stay, Tab-"

"Finish your sentence and you have to leave," she threatened.

Groaning, he laid down. "You treat me like a dog."

"Take a hint."

"Alright, guys," Fang called out, coming down the stairs, James on his shoulders and Chris in his arms. "Ready to go?"

"I wanna stay," Lucas said. "Tyler?"

"I have to spend every night with you. No way."

"But I wanna see all my friends," Lucas said.

"None of our friends like, nor know you," Tabitha said. She had formed a sudden love of the word nor. Don't ask why, she just had.

"Yes!"

"Name one," Tyler said.

"Uh…Alex. She loves me. I haven't seen her since my birthday party," Lucas said, frowning a little. "How come she doesn't spend the night no more?"

"She just doesn't, okay?" Tyler got mad.

I sighed, going over to Fang. I gave him a kiss. "Where are you taking them?"

"To eat and then the park."

"You should do park and then eat."

He frowned. "Why?"

"They'll be more hungry," I told him, reaching up to take James off his shoulders. "Be good, James."

"I'm always good," he said as I sat him on the ground. Jason giggled.

"Go?" He asked, bouncing up and down. "Go park? Go play?"

"Yep," Fang said, putting on Chris's shoes. "Jackets, boys."

"Could you guys go now?" Tyler asked, frowning.

Tabitha made Adeem lift up his feet so that she could sit down. Then he put his feet in her lap, making her frowned. "Your feet stink. Put on your shoes."

"No," he said, wiggling his toes.

"God, you're nasty."

"Thank you."

I went outside with Fang to help him get all the kids into the car. Luther left his Ford Explorer behind when he left, so we used it, as it had three rows of seat.

"I'm big boy," Neo complained as I put him in his car seat. "No, Max."

"Yes," I said, giving him a kiss. Chris giggled when I gave him one. "Do you love me, Chris?"

"Yes," he laughed.

"Alright, baby," Fang said after I told all the other boys bye. He gave me a hug. "See you when we get back."

"Bye," I said, giving him a kiss. "Have fun."

"You too."

"I won't."

When I went back into the house, Tyler was gone and Tabitha and Adeem were fighting.

"I thought that I didn't need to!"

"Get me a gift?"

"It's twenty dollars, be happy. That's all I ever get for my birthday," he defended himself.

"What happened?" I asked, sighing.

"She found my gift."

"You put it in your pocket and it fell out. That's not my fault," she said. Then she looked at me. "Max, what does Dad get you for your birthday?"

I snorted. "Nothing."

"See?" Adeem smiled. "At least I got you something."

"Fine, for your birthday I'm just giving you money."

"Thank you!"

I shook my head. "Where's your brother, Tabs?"

"In the kitchen," she said. "Getting a drink, I think."

I rolled my eyes. "When are your friends getting here?"

"In, like, ten minutes," she said.

Great…

* * *

><p>"Her?" Lucas glared at her father. "Her?"<p>

"What?" Fang sat down on the bench next to Damien. "You and Samantha are friends."

"No, we're-"

"Hi, Lucas," Sam called from the swings, waving at him. Jason giggled, racing Neo over to the slide.

"Here, Chris, let's go play in the sandbox," James said, he and Cody helping the younger boy over to them.

"Go play with her," Fang prompted Lucas. "She's your girlfriend, right?"

"No," Lucas said, frowning at him. "She's a baby."

"She's only three years younger than you," Fang said. "Trust me, in about ten years, that will mean everything, in a good way."

"Fang, don't say things like that," Damien said, frowning. "That is my daughter, you know."

Scowling, Lucas reluctantly went over to the girl. She was so annoying. Fang smiled at Damien.

"Where's Cameron today?"

"At home," he said. "Probably watching TV. I've got Tyler and Tabitha's gifts in the car, when you want them."

"I'll take them when we leave," Fang said.

"Who's got the shop today?"

"This kid that we hired. His name's Trevor. You know the guy. Always in the store, probably about sixteen."

"Yeah, I know him. He's graduating this year, you know."

"What? He's not eighteen."

Damien nodded. "He's graduating early."

"Two years?"

"Kids a genius. Already taking a few college courses."

"Damn," Fang said, shaking his head. "Too bad none of our kids are that smart."

"Sure they are!"

"Damien, Samantha still gets her numbers mixed up and Tyler hates writing."

"That's two out of what? Nine? One of these guys has to be a genius. My bet is on Tabitha."

"I don't know," Fang sighed. "She's all obsessed with Adeem."

"She'll be over him soon," Damien said. "Look at Tyler and Alex. Even they've fizzled out."

"What do you know about that?" Fang asked, frowning.

"Tyler talks to me…and my dad mostly."

"Why aren't they hanging out anymore?"

"They got into a fight or something. I don't know," Damien said, shrugging. "Tyler's still mad at her about it."

"Is Alex still mad?"

"Tyler said that she wants him to forgive her, but he's not going to. I don't know why."

Fang shrugged. "They had a good run, I guess. It's not like anyone puts stock into little kids, you know."

"Yeah, I guess," he said with a shrug.

* * *

><p>Tyler had never had this many friends. Ever. Not even including all the kids that lived in his house. And now, he had a girlfriend. Alex just didn't get it.<p>

"You're step mom's hot."

Tyler frowned, looking at Jordan. "What?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "It's cool if you agree. She's not your real mom."

Tyler shook his head. Alex would have never said _that_. Tabitha, however, was not forced to think about the difference between having friends and not. As always, no one ever said something that could be taken offensively to her. They all thought that she was so great. Honestly, Jessica was the only reason that the other kids thought that Tyler was okay now. Alex just didn't get that.

Tabitha sighed, not at all thinking that she was great. "I guess."

Brenda nodded. "Yeah. So if you really think about it, you owe me."

"What do I owe you?" Tabitha asked.

"I don't know…I'd take twenty dollars."

Adeem frowned, crossing his arms. "Go away, Brenda. You're nothing but a bitch."

"Hey!"

Tabitha sighed. "I'm not giving her your gift, Adeem. You're a jerk, Brenda. Go away."

"Fine!" She stomped off. Right now, Max had made them all go outside. Tank was hiding in his doghouse, afraid of all the new people. Tabitha and Adeem were sitting on the porch steps, watching everybody. They had already had cake and presents, so now they were all just playing.

"Parties are stupid," Tabitha said.

"Yeah," Adeem agreed, though he really wanted to go play with some of his friends. Tabitha sighed.

"You can go play, if you-"

And he was gone, off to play a game of basketball.

"What's wrong with you?"

Tabitha just stared at him. "Nothing. You?"

Tyler shrugged, sitting down next to her. "Is it weird if one of my friends called Max hot?"

"I don't know," Tabitha said, sighing. "Let's never have another birthday party."

"Okay," Tyler agreed readily. "Jessica says that I have to get her a Valentines gift."

"So?"

"I don't really want to get her a gift."

"You get Alex one every year."

"That's different," Tyler said, waving her off.

"How?"

"Same way Tommy and Adeem are different."

Four years ago, that would have made her mad. Now, it didn't at all. Tommy was like a distance memory. Kind of like the old house. She could remember it, she could remember doing things in it, but she couldn't imagine living there again.

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Adeem's just your friend."

Is that what he is? "Then just pretend like Jessica is just a friend."

"No," he sighed.

"Tyler?"

"What?"

"Why are you and Alex fighting?"

He shrugged, looking down at his shoes. "At first, it was just about me getting into the fight. She was mad and said that I was stupid for that."

"She always says that."

"Yeah," he agreed. "But then I found out that Jessica liked me."

"So?"

"Alex said that she only liked me for now, not long term."

"And? That's probably true."

Tyler frowned. "You don't know that."

"If that's why you're fighting with Alex, then that's stupid."

"Like you can judge what's stupid and not! You think that you're smarter than me, don't you?"

"Yep," she said, nodding her head. "It's true to."

Tyler just frowned.

* * *

><p>Fang was all kisses tonight. "You know what tomorrow is?"<p>

He gave me another kiss before letting me respond. "The 14th?"

"Yeah," he said, putting his forehead against mine. "Valentines Day."

"Great," I mumbled. We were cleaning up the house from the party. The boys were all in bed, but Tabitha was still up, somewhere in the house. "I never did ask you about the park."

"I had called Damien and told him to meet us there," Fang said, wrapping his arms around me.

"So what?"

"You know how much Samantha wants Lucas to notice her. She bugged him the whole day."

"Yeah, he was saying something about that," I told him as he wrapped his arms around me. "I think it's cute."

"I know," Fang said, laughing a little. "You know what's funnier?"

"What?"

Leaning close to my ear, he said, "Jason keeps getting jealous about it. He wants her to like him."

"Why?" I frowned. "He's never really shown any interest in that yet."

"He doesn't," Fang said. "He's mad that Lucas has someone doing whatever he wants. Jason tried to get Neo to do it, but he said no."

I laughed a little. "Fang?"

"What?"

"I met Tyler's girlfriend."

He started rubbing his hands up and down my body. "Did you?"

"Yeah," I said, turning in his arms. "I like Alex better."

"Max, come on. They've outlasted anything we thought before. You know little kids. They aren't supposed to have long lasting relationships. Tyler and Tabitha are just a weird exception."

"Yeah," I said, sighing. "Look at Lucas."

"Now, I don't know," Fang hesitated. "I mean, he and Samantha have been going strong for a year."

"Except for her fling with Tyler," I mumbled, closing my eyes as he started kissing my neck.

"Except for that," he concluded, pulling my shirt off. Maybe it was the pent up sexual urges. Maybe we're just idiots. Either way, we suck as parents.

Yes, we started to take off all each other's clothes, planning to have sex in the kitchen. So what? It's better than spending all our money on porn, right? Right?

"Max, are you in here?" The kitchen light that we had turn off was turn back on. "I need your help with-"

Tabitha stopped speaking. Fang pulled away from me…and out of me. Anyways…

"Tabtiha-"

"Ew!" She ran away, up the stairs and away from us. Why can't something just ever work out?

* * *

><p>I knocked on Tabitha's bedroom door. "Tabby? Are you still awake?"<p>

"Go away," she said.

"I want to talk about-"

"No."

I sighed, opening the door. "Tabitha-"

"That's nasty," she said, not looking at me. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Tabitha, we messed up," I said, sighing. "I forgot that you were still up."

"It's still nasty."

"Tabitha, it's just something that adults do."

"Nasty."

"I just wanted you to know that if you ever want to talk about it-"

"I won't."

"-we can," I told her. Okay?"

She ignored me, rolling over to face the wall. Sighing, I walked out of the room. Fang was waiting downstairs.

"And?"

"She didn't want to talk about it," I said, pushing past him. "God, Fang, why do you have to make such stupid decisions?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You're the one that tried to freaking fuck me to death."

"Yeah, Max, that's exactly what happened."

"Thank you."

He frowned at me. "Don't act like it didn't make you horny."

"Shut up, Fang. God, just shut up."

He shook his head. "You know, I didn't even get to finish."

I frowned, walking towards our bedroom. "What do you want? A blowjob?"

"No," he said, frowning at me. "But to finish would be nice."

I know that I've been complaining about us not having sex recently, but having forced sex sucks. Even Fang would have to admit that.

Afterwards, we just laid there next to each other, our backs to one another. It was almost like right after Lucas was born and we hated each other. Slowly, Fang got out of bed after a few minutes and began to get dressed. Then he just left without saying anything to me. I waiting an hour before getting dressed too and going to check on all the kids. Everyone was in bed now and fine. Fang was up in the attic. I imagined going up there for a minute before abandoning the idea and starting to walk away. I was almost to the stairs when the light at in the attic turned off and Fang came running down the stairs.

"Hey."

I pulled away when he grabbed me. "You need to close the attic staircase."

He sighed, moving back from me to do so. "Are you going to bed?"

"Shhh. The kids are asleep."

"Max."

I started down the stairs. Fang growled. In the dark, it kind of reminded me of an Eraser.

"Are you even waiting for me?" He ran down the stairs, but then fell into me.

"Damn it, Fang."

He helped me up. "Sorry."

I started for the bedroom, Fang right behind.

"Are we fighting?" He asked, closing the bedroom door behind us.

"Not that I know of."

"I love you, Max."

"Oh, shut up," I said, going to lay down. Fang took off his shirt before getting into bed with me.

"My arms hurt," he said, looking down at himself. "Hey, baby?"

"What?"

"You think that we're done with having kids?"

I frowned at him. "What do you think?"

"I don't know," he said, his tone turning irritated. "Why would I ask if I fucking knew?"

I put my back to him. "Why don't you go back to the attic?"

"Why don't you go sleep on the couch?"

"I'm close to doing it."

"Then go."

I got up and left. I wasn't on the couch twenty minutes before Fang came into the room and picked me up.

"What?" I asked grumpily. Fang ignored me, but went ahead and carried me to the bedroom.

"Stay," he said, getting into bed next to me. "I will hold you down."

"Oh, whatever."

* * *

><p>"I don't know," Damien said. "I think it's kind of weird."<p>

"All little girls start to like boys, Damien," Cameron told him, pulling the covers up around her more. Peter cuddled into her stomach. "When I was four, I like this boy that had the same name as me."

"Cameron?"

"Yes, stupid."

"Why?"

"Because he could lick his nose."

Damien shook his head. "Girls are weird."

"Oh, like boys don't have little crushes."

"They don't."

"Well, not right now," she said. "When they get older. Girls start liking boys earlier, Damien. Everyone knows that."

"Clearly."

She sighed. "It's like, midnight. Let's go to bed."

Damien closed his eyes. "Tomorrow's Saturday, huh?"

"Yeah," she said, yawning. "I work."

"So do I," he said, frowning. "Maybe Max and Fang can watch her."

"Call in the morning."

"Alright."

* * *

><p>Samantha patted Fang's head. "Gonna go to work?"<p>

"No," Fang said, looking up. "Max is there."

She giggled from the top of his shoulders. "Where's Lucas?"

"He's with Max, silly."

Frowning, she said, "I wanna see him."

Fang took her off his shoulders and sat her on the ground before sitting down on the couch. "Sorry, Sam. You guys played yesterday though, didn't you?"

"No," she lied, getting onto the couch next to him. "Fang?"

"What?"

"I like cake."

"That's great."

"I really like cake."

"Sam-"

"You got cake, right? Party yes'rday."

"Fine," he sighed. "James, go get Sam some cake."

The boy, who was doing summersaults on the floor, stood up. "Okay, come on, Sam. Can I have some too?"

"Yeah, of course," Fang said, changing the channel. "Get me some."

While they were finishing off their birthday cake, the twins were in Tabitha's bathroom.

"I don't know, Tabby," Tyler said, looking wearily at her. "Are you sure?"

"We'll get in trouble, yeah, but I watched a bunch of videos of how to do it on Adeem's laptop. It's easy."

She turned on the electric razor. This would be fun.

* * *

><p>The second I opened the door, Fang was talking.<p>

"Max, before you get angry, hear me out. I was watching the other kids and-"

"What happened?" I asked, frowning. Lucas pushed past his father and gasped. "What?"

I pushed Fang out of the way and saw…it.

"Someone had better explain. Right now."

"Tabitha did it," Tyler ratted.

"Hey!"

I stared at Tyler's head. It wasn't badly shaven. Tabitha had actually done a good job with the Mohawk. "Tyler, why did you let her do that?"

"Because I like it," he said. "It's like Mr. T without the side burns."

"I pity the fool," Tabitha added.

I rolled my eyes heavily. "Why didn't you just ask for a Mohawk, Tyler?"

"Because I knew that you'd say no."

"Hell yes I would."

"Max," Fang sighed. "Come on, baby. It's not bad, per say."

"Fang, I'll per say your ass if you don't start yelling at them."

Fang shook his head. "I don't think that it looks that bad."

I crossed my arms. "If you don't yell at them for this, they'll think that they can do it again."

"What do you want me to do?" Fang asked. "Spank them?"

"Well, no," I said. "At least ground them or something."

"That's not fair! You and Dad didn't get in trouble for being naked in the kitchen."

"Tabitha!"

Tyler frowned. "Why were you naked in the kitchen?"

"Shush," I said, blushing heavily. "Everybody just be quiet."

"Can I get braids?" James asked me. "Tyler got a Mohawk."

"I want cornrows," Cody giggled.

"Did I not just tell you all to shut up?"

It was silent as I walked out of the living room. I can't deal with them right now.

* * *

><p><strong>April<strong>

Today was a bad day. Jessica broke up with Tyler, apparently. She said that he wasn't cool enough. I personally don't think that she's cool enough for him! Tabitha, however, had a pretty good day.

"And, Adeem said that he loves me," she said. "Loves me."

"Shut up!" Tyler wasn't happy. "Just shut up!"

"You're jealous," Tabitha said, getting a coke. "My boyfriend loves me. Your girlfriend…well, let's just say we won't be calling her that anymore."

"Stop it," I told her, frowning.

"Nope, Max, even you can't ruin this for me," she said before walking out of the kitchen. The one person who could ruin it for her?

It wasn't a second later that I heard Tabitha scream.

"What?" I ran into the living room. She was staring at Neo and Jason. "What happened?"

"What did you do?" She ran over to them, glaring heavily. "Where is it? Where?"

"What?" Neo asked, frowning.

"The leather. Where is it, Neo?"

I finally realized what she was talking about. That ring on a piece of leather that Tommy had given her. The last gift he ever gave her, if I recall correctly.

"I no know," Jason said, shaking his head. "No here."

"Give me that damn leather!"

"Tabitha!"

She glared hard at them. "Now! I said to-"

I grabbed her arm. "You do not use that kind of language."

She pulled her arm from my hand. "I hate you! All of you!"

After snatching the ring from Neo's hands, she ran up the stairs. I sighed, looking at the boys.

"Where did you get the ring from? Tabitha's room?"

"No."

"Boys."

"Yes," Neo admitted. "It was nice. It hangs on her wall. I like it, I take it."

"That's bad. Now where's the leather?"

"Huh?" Jason looked confused.

"The string that it was on. Where is it?"

"Chewed on it," Neo said, frowning. "Didn't taste good so we threw it away."

I shook my head, deciding to let Fang deal with them. I went up to Tabitha's room.

"I don't want to talk to you," she growled at me. I wasn't going to take that.

"Say that to me again and I'll tell Fang what you said."

She shut her mouth, but didn't look at me. I sighed, moving into the room.

"They threw the leather in the trash. It's covered in spit. I'm sorry, Tabitha. I'll get you another-"

"I don't want another," she whispered, staring down at the ring in her hand. "It wouldn't be the same."

I sat down on the end of her bed. "Tabitha, I know that it hurts, but you can't curse. You just can't, baby. Me and your dad do enough for all of us."

She shook her head. "I hate it here, Max! I don't want to be here. One of them are always in my paint or markers, stealing my glue, and now they took my ring. It's not fair. I didn't want brothers. I didn't even want Dad to marry _you_."

For a minute, I just stared at her. "I'm sorry that you feel that way, but-"

"No, you're not," she said. "If you were, you wouldn't keep taking in more kids. You would stop. You'd make all of them leave."

"That's not what being sorry is, Tabitha," I told her. "I'm sorry for you that we've put you in the situation, but you can't complain. Have we ever asked you to give up your room? No. Have we once made you give up anything at all? No."

"Still, Max. I have to share everything."

"That's part of being the older sibling."

"Tyler's my only sibling!"

I looked up at the ceiling. "Why do you hate me?"

"I don't."

"Then don't act like you do."

She frowned, staring at the wall behind my head. "I just don't like them messing with my stuff."

"I know," I said, staring at her. "Tommy meant…a lot to you. They'll never touch it again."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

><p>A day later, Tyler was sitting alone at lunch again. It wasn't fair. He didn't even do anything. One minutes, Jessica thinks that he's cool. The next, he sucks. What sense did that make?<p>

"Can I sit with you?"

Tyler had never heard those words in his life. He looked up to stare into Alex's brown eyes. "You're talking to me?"

"You can't answer a question with a question, Tyler," she giggled, sitting down across from him. Tyler smiled a little. Jessica never laughed. Ever. It was like she was allergic to it.

"Me and Jessica broke up."

Alex had already known that, but she didn't want to make it hurt. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "She was bossy."

It was silent for a minutes before she spoke again. "You missed Manny. He left last week."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"You wouldn't talk to me," she defended. "He said that next time he sees you, he's gonna hurt you."

"Why? For making you sad?"

She shrugged, not wanting to admit that she had been truly crushed by Tyler's disloyalty. "He'll be back in August."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Tyler smiled. "You missed my birthday."

"Do you want me to get you a gift?" She asked.

"No," he said, shaking his head a little. "Wanna come over after school? I got some new comics we could look at."

Alex wasn't all that fond of reading comics. "Yeah. Of course."

* * *

><p>Alex is back. Alex is back. Hahahah.<p>

"How come Tyler kicked me out of the room?" Lucas asked me. "I haven't seen Alex in forever either."

"You just shut up, alright?" I looked hard at him. "Tyler just wants his space."

Neo, who was rolling around on the floor, suddenly stopped. "Max?"

"What?"

"What happens if you cut off your finger?" He was looking curiously at the scissors on the table.

"You die a horrible death."

He just frowned. Smiling a little to myself, I closed my eyes and took a nap. About two hours later, Fang got home.

"Hey, baby," he said, waking me up with a kiss.

Then he went to give kisses to all the boys. Chris and Lance, who were in the playpen, started whining to be freed. Fang took them out and sat them on the ground. Neo pulled him down too, giggling as all the boys dog piled him. I shook my head, watching them. Tabitha might hate having so many kids in the house, but everyone else loves it. Except maybe Tyler, but he only hates it because he hates people. Besides Alex, of course. God it felt good to have her back.


	4. Chapter 4

Broken

Chapter 4

Fang made me breakfast in bed. Cody, who had been sleeping with us, threw up on it.

"Shhh," I soothed, rubbing his back. We were now in his bedroom, me holding him. "It's okay, Cody."

James watched from the doorway. "Can I come in?"

"No, baby, he might get you sick," I sighed, rubbing Cody's back. "Go finish getting ready for school. Fang will take you."

"Bye-bye, Cody. Tell teacher you're okay," he said before running off.

"Baby, I'm going to go get-"

"No, Mommy," he cried, holding his stomach. "I hurt."

"I know, baby," I sighed. "Is it just your stomach? Huh?"

"Yeah," he cried, still doubled over. After about ten minutes, he fell asleep. Thirty minutes later, Fang came into the room.

"Baby, get up," he said to me. "Come on."

"Did you take all the others to school?" I asked once we were downstairs. Chris and Lance were in the playpen while Jason and Neo were sitting on the couch.

"Yep," Fang said. "Let's let Code, sleep."

"Yeah," I mumbled, sitting down in his chair. Fang went and got the two boys from their prison and started playing with them. I smiled a little, cuddling into myself.

* * *

><p>"So there's a difference?"<p>

"Yes!" Adeem looked at her in shock. "That's like saying that all white people are Christians."

"I'm sorry, but I don't see the connection," Mrs. May said, shaking her head. "I was just saying that-"

"What you said was wrong," Adeem said, clearly angry. "Just 'cause someone's from the center east-"

"Middle East," Tabitha mumbled in his ear.

"-Middle East," he corrected, "don't mean they have to be Muslim. They could be anything they wanted! Just because I'm Arab doesn't mean that I am either. You don't know me."

Tabitha rolled her eyes. She was seated behind her boyfriend and was stuck listening to his rants on a weekly bases. It was obvious that he had a great distaste for their history teacher, but sometimes she felt like his act was put on, just out of habit. Who was she to judge though? Oh, right, Tabitha.

Adeem and the teacher went back and forth for awhile before he got sent to the office for talking back. He didn't seem to care all that much. Before he left, he told her that he'd see her at lunch.

"Why do you like him so much?" Terra asked her, not looking as amused as all the boys were by the argument. "All he does is cause problems."

"So?" Tabitha didn't even look at the other girl.

"And you know what else? I was asking my daddy about all that stuff that he says, and he said that he was a liar. He just hates America."

"Hear that?" Brenda snickered. "Your boyfriend hates America."

"Take it back, Terra," Tabitha said. "Or else."

"Or else what?"

"I'll beat your face in," she threatened.

"I'd like to see you try," the other girl said back, smug as ever. It was interesting to notice how different her face looked in the end. A dislocated jaw and black eyes do a lot to a person's appearance.

* * *

><p>Fang was yelling at Tabitha and it was bothering Cody.<p>

"Why's he mad at her?" Cody asked me. "Tabby did good, right? Ty said she did. Beat up good."

"Fighting is not good," I told him, feeling like the biggest hypocrite in the world. "Cody, are you sleepy again?"

He nodded his head, cuddling under the covers. I had him in my bed and we were cuddling. It wasn't time for any of the other kids to get home, but Tabitha had been suspended.

"Then go to sleep," I said, smiling down at him. "It'll make your tummy feel better."

He giggled. About an hour ago, he puked up, like, two years worth of stuff and was now alright. I think that he just had a stomach virus, but I'm not a doctor. Better call Samantha… not that she would care. This is Cody, not Lucas after all.

"Mommy?"

"What, baby?"

He shifted a little. "Who's older?"

"Out of who?"

"You and daddy."

"Me," I said. "Only by a couple of months though."

"Is that good?"

"What?"

"Is it good to be older?"

"Cody, what do you mean?"

He frowned, looking for the words to explain. "Trina says that her daddy is lots older than her mommy."

"So?"

"Just wonderin' which is better."

"It doesn't matter as long as the mommy and daddy both love each other."

He closed his eyes. "Like Lucas and Sam?"

"What?"

He nodded. "Sam said that Lucas is gonna be her husband."

I smiled a little. "I wouldn't exactly call what they have love, no, but Sam cares about him."

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "She's alright. Would make good sister-in-bra."

"Sister-in-law, Cody."

"Then me and James would be related!"

"Would you?"

"Yep. Damien's Sam's daddy and he's James's uncle. Related."

"You're so smart," I said, kissing his head. "Does your stomach still hurt? You wanna try and eat crackers or something?"

"No," he moaned. "I'mma sleep, Mommy."

"Alright," I said. A few minutes after he was asleep, Fang came into the room.

"Hey, baby," he greeted. I took a quick check of his posture and found it tense, but not angry. His belt was still at its proper place around his waist, so he hadn't taken it off.

"Hey," I said back as he climbed into bed. "You look tired."

"More than you know," he mumbled. "He isn't going to puke on us, is he?"

"No," I sighed. "How's Tabby?"

"Fine," he said. "Someone said something about Adeem and she decided that she was going to fight them about it."

"Why do we have such violent children?" I asked, running a hand down Cody's stomach.

"I don't know," Fang said, shrugging a little. "Could have a lot to do with such violent parents they have."

"We are not violent."

"Think about it, Max. You hit me every time you get mad at me. And what about when you kneed me in the crotch?"

"Which time?" I asked.

"Exactly."

I shook my head. "We're not violent, Fang. Just not always nice."

"Yeah, that's what we are."

* * *

><p>Tyler was excited when he got home.<p>

"I didn't get in trouble at all and she got suspended. I deserve cake, Max."

"No," Tabitha said, clicking her tongue. "I don't get in trouble all the time while you do. I never get cake."

"So what?" Tyler didn't seem to get the connection. I never said that he was my brightest child…

"Look, no one is getting a cake, alright?"

Tyler stomped out of the kitchen and I went back to making dinner. Stirring macaroni is hard.

"Max, how long am I grounded for?"

"I don't know, Tabitha," I sighed. "Ask Fang."

"He's mean," she told me. "I did the right thing, right?"

"Tabitha, you know that fighting-"

"Whenever someone says something bad about Damien, Cameron yells at them."

"Yeah, but she doesn't hit them."

"You don't know that."

That was true. I shook my head. "Tabitha, just be good, alright? We have enough to deal with without you-"

"How come everyone one else can act bad but I can't? Lucas is always in trouble and so is Tyler."

"Because, Tabitha, you're more mature than them and we expect more from you."

"Why? Maybe I don't want to be more mature," she said, crossing her arms. I rolled my eyes.

"Look, I'm not in the mood, okay? I've been puked on more than you want to know about today, so just shut your mouth."

"You can't just ignore me!"

"You wanna bet?"

"Yes."

"Fang!"

"No," she whined.

"What?" Fang came into the kitchen.

"Deal with her, I'm too busy."

"With what?" Tabitha asked, clearly not grasping the point of shutting up.

Fang grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room. "Come on. I've told you before to stop talking back."

"You just like her better," Tabitha whined as her voice faded away up the stairs. I kept making dinner.

"Mom?" Lucas came into the room. "What's a period?"

I frowned. "What?"

"I asked Daddy and he said to ask you," he said, holding up his homework. "See? Which ones a period and which ones a comma? They both look the same."

I sighed loudly. "The dot is the period, Luke. The comma is the dot with the tail."

"Like a puppy?"

"Uh-huh."

He giggled before running off to finish the work. James was the next one in the room. "Hotdogs and mac and cheese, Max?"

"Yes," I told him.

"Good," he said, pulling out a chair and taking a seat. "I hate when Fang makes dinner."

"That's why you're my favorite."

He giggled. "Max? Tyler said that Cody is gonna die."

"What?" I turned to look at him. "What are you talking about?"

"He said that he used to throw up a lot and that he was going to die, but God liked him so he didn't make him die. Is God gonna take Cody?"

"No, of course not," I said, frowning. "Tyler's just being mean."

"Sure?"

"Very sure."

"Oh," he sighed. "I kind of thought that maybe Victoria'd be glad to see him. You know, so he could tell her stuff. Like how good Lance is. I bet she wants to know."

"She knows, sweetie," I said, turning the burner down a little.

"How?" He asked, the ever inquisitive little boy.

"She's in Heaven, baby. You can see down on earth from there. That way you'll know how happy your family is."

"So that she don't miss Lance?"

"Yep."

He started crying loudly. I rushed to him, thinking that maybe he had suddenly caught whatever Cody has.

"What's the matter, baby?"

Through a cracked voice, he said, "My mommy and daddy don't care to see me! They don't care! I want my, my…I want you, Max!"

I picked him up, sighing. "Shhh, James. It's okay. That's nothing to cry about now, is it?"

He sniffled loudly. "I just want a mommy and daddy that wanna see if I'm happy."

I gave him a kiss on the head. "Baby, don't you cry about Luther and Tammie. They do care about you, okay? They love you, they're just confused. And do you really have it that bad? Me and Fang love you just as much as your mommy and daddy."

Trying to force himself to stop crying, James wrapped his arms around my neck. "I love you too, Max."

"I know, I know," I sighed, setting him back down in the chair. "Can you go get all the others for dinner? Huh? Chris and Lance are in their playpen, so let Fang get them out, alright?"

He nodded before going off to do as I asked. He so sensitive about things. I guess though, with all that he's had to deal with, it shouldn't be that odd. Like Lance. He has this obsession with biting. I asked his doctor about it, and he said that it would fade, but it hasn't. Maybe it's just him missing his mommy and daddy. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into all this. Whatever. At least I didn't burn the hotdogs this time. The macaroni is another story though…

* * *

><p><strong>June<strong>

Like many ten year old boys, Adeem was very susceptible to idolizing the stupidest things. At one time, Tyler thought that Tony Hawk was the president and Lucas still thinks that Donald Duck is the best thing ever. Now, Adeem had decided that he wanted to be just like Biz Markie when he got older. He thought that beatboxing was cool and would not stop making stupid noises. Tabitha, however, found more important things to become obsessed with.

"Shaun White is so cool."

Adeem rolled his eyes. "Tabitha, are you even listening to me? Want me to start over?"

"You're not even any good at beatboxing," she said, waving him off. "Shaun White is good at snowboarding though."

"You just think he's cute."

"He is."

They were watching a rerun of the Winter X-Games. Tabitha was engrossed with her new found love while Adeem tried to win her affection back.

"I'm better though, right?"

She said nothing, staring at the TV. How had she not known about this guy before? He was amazing. One day, she decided, she was going to marry him.

"Are you gonna listen to me now?"

Oh yeah, she was already promised to _him_. Sigh. "What, Adeem?"

"I want you to listen to me," he whined. "Please?"

"Fine, go," she said, rolling her eyes. They were over at his house, watching TV in the living room. She rolled her eyes at his inability, but said nothing. All she knew was, that if Adeem suddenly decided to not get married, she might not be as mad. Still very mad, but not that mad. But with Shaun White waiting for her, losing Adeem wouldn't be that bad.

* * *

><p>Today was a week into summer break and I was already tired of the kids all being home.<p>

"Stop!" Lucas pushed Cody away, making him fall.

"Mommy, he pushed me!"

"He tried to take my toy!"

"Stop," I said, holding up a hand. Chris giggled, walking over to me. The two year old climbed into my lap, cuddling against me.

"Hi," he giggled. I gave him a kiss on the head. Today, I had these three and Fang had Tyler, Neo, and Lance up at the store. Jason was with Mom, James was with his grandparents, and Tabitha was at Adeem's.

"Mommy? When is James getting home?"

"Not soon enough," I mumbled, staring at the TV.

Chris yawned. "Ni-ni."

He got out of my lap and went over to the chair, where he curled up and went to sleep. If James was here, he would have put a blanket over him. Alas, I am left with my own, not thoughtful children.

Lucas took off his shirt and opened his wings. He had been working on flying recently, and he was always saying that it made him tired.

"What are you doing, baby?" I asked him.

"I wanna be like Daddy. He doesn't wear a shirt everywhere," Lucas said, laying down, his wings spread out. Cody walked over to him and ran a hand down them. "Stop it, Cody."

"No," he said, still feeling them. "Mommy, I want wings."

"No, you don't."

"Yes," he whined. Then the TV distracted him. I feel that.

* * *

><p>"Where's Alex today, Ty?"<p>

He looked at his father. "Her brother took her somewhere."

"Which one?"

"Marcus. He came home and took her and Christian somewhere," Tyler said before getting up and going to the back.

Lance yawned loudly from his spot in Fang's lap. "Seepy."

"Are you?" Fang leaned down at gave him a kiss. "Wanna go take a nap in the office?"

"No," he whined, reaching up to touch Fang's face.

"Alright, alright, calm down," he sighed, bouncing the boy a little. "You wanna go play with Neo?"

"No," he said, cuddling against Fang. He loved Fang.

A few minutes later, Damien and Samantha came in.

"Lucas!" She looked around. "Lucas?"

"He's not here, Sam," Fang told her. "He's at home."

She stomped her feet. "No!"

Neo walked over to her. "I'm here."

"No," she said, pushing him away.

"Stop pushing," Damien told her. "Say sorry."

"Sorry," she yelled before turning her head to bury it in her father's leg, upset. Fang frowned. Though at first he had a deep hatred for the girl, he had slowly formed a friendship with her.

"It's okay, Samantha," he said, smiling at her, though she couldn't see it. "Neo isn't hurt."

"Am too!" He frowned at Fang.

"Fang, don't tell her that," Damien sighed. "Then she'll think it really is okay."

"It is," he said. Lance got bored with the conversation and Fang's lack of attention towards him, so his bit his finger.

"Ow, Lance!" Fang looked down at him. "You stop that."

"See? Now what if I told him that was okay?" Damien walked off into the bookshelves, shaking his head. Samantha stuck her tongue out at her father when his back was to her. He was so mean. So what if she pushed? That's not a crime or anything! She's not going to jail for it.

Lance yawned, closing his eyes. Fang didn't taste good. He wanted juice. "Ju, Fang."

"Neo, get his sippy cup, please."

"Please in Spanish is por favor," Neo told Fang, going to get the drink. "I'm smart, right Fang?"

"Yep," Fang said, taking it from the boy and giving it to the younger one. "Very smart."

Giggling, Neo forgot about Samantha and sat down on the floor. Tyler came back into the room.

"Ty!" Samantha suddenly forgot about her supposed one true love. "Hi."

He frowned at her. "Damien? Are you here?"

"Yeah."

Tyler walked off into the bookshelves to go talk to him. "Can I spend the night at your house tonight?"

"If you want, sure, Ty," Damien said, shrugging. "We can stay up and play video games and stuff, if you want."

"And Samantha can't play?"

He sighed. "She just wants to be your friend, Tyler."

"Yeah, well, I already have a friend and we're perfectly happy together."

* * *

><p>"Swiper, no swiping!"<p>

God, I hate Dora. Why in the world would anyone invent a show where kids have to talk? I was always under the impression that TV was made so that talking would be eliminated.

James, who was finally home from his grandparents, shook his head. "Dora can't hear you, Neo."

"Yes, she can!"

"James, be nice," I sighed.

"He's yelling though," he complained. He was always in a bad mood when he got back from Trinity and Dan's. I don't think that he likes his grandfather all that much.

"Still," I sighed. "Just let him. He's learning Spanish."

"Gracias," Neo told me, smiling brightly.

I laughed a little before looking down at Jason, who was sitting in my lap. He got back from Mom's an hour ago and had apparently missed me greatly, because all he wanted was for me to hold him.

"I love you, Jay," I told him.

"Love Mommy," he yawned, stretching. She had taken him up to the vet office and let him look at all the animals. It had been a long day for him. "Bath? Now?"

I stood up and took him to my bathroom. I always bathed the younger kids in my tub, because it was bigger. Fang had Lance and Chris with him in our bedroom.

"Come on, boys," I said to them as I walked into the bathroom. "Bath time."

They whined as Fang made them come to me, but let me undress them.

"Stop!" Jason yelled at Lance as he splashed him with water. Chris giggled.

"Wa-er," he said as I scrubbed him. How do boys get so dirty? Tabitha never took this much work to clean.

"Boys, stop fighting," I said, separating Jason and Lance. "Behave like Chris."

Lance bit me. "Ah!"

"Stop it, Lance. I mean it. I will make you go sit in the corner after bath time," I threatened.

Fang walked into the bathroom and went over to the toilet, whistling to himself. I frowned.

"You are not going to pee, are you?"

"Yeah," he said, dropping his jeans. "Why?"

"Fang, stop. I do not want you peeing while I'm bathing them."

"Why? It's not like they're looking at me," he said before peeing. Jackass.

* * *

><p>"Damien, are you guys going to be alright down here?" Cameron asked, looking at them wearily. She already brought them pillows and blankets, incase they didn't make it the whole night.<p>

"Yeah," Damien said, not looking up from the game. "Go to bed, Cameron. Check on Sammy too, will you?"

"Whatever," she said, both of them knowing she wouldn't. "Goodnight, Tyler."

"Goodnight," he said.

"Night, omen," she said before going up the stairs. Damien sighed, looking at Tyler.

"Remind me to go check on Sam in ten minutes, okay?"

"I thought Cameron was?"

He just shook his head. Tyler went back to eating. Cameron had gotten him ice cream, chocolate of course. She said that she was very happy that he was there. It was only right that she would be. After all, he is amazing.

Damien sighed, not even feeling like playing the game now. Why couldn't Cameron just check on the girl for once? You'd think that after awhile, she'd warm up to her own daughter, right? Sure, what happened to her was bad, horrible even, but it was a long time ago. Five years. Samantha was more important than that, right? And, in August, she'd be starting Kindergarten. That's, like, when you start making memories that you carry with you forever. Damien still remembered peeing his pants on his first day and a group of boys beating him up. Cameron didn't want Sam to remember how little time they spent together, did she?

* * *

><p>"How come you don't wear dresses?"<p>

Tabitha and Adeem were sitting outside, waiting for her Dad to come pick her up.

"What?"

"You don't wear dresses."

"So? I don't like them."

"Have you ever worn one?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Not that I remember."

He laid his head on his knees. "Do you really like Shaun White more than me?"

"You sound like a girl."

"It was just a question."

"No," she said, rolling her eyes. "He's just amazing at snowboarding."

"Well, I'm amazing at things too."

"I know."

"…Name one for me."

She sighed. "You're amazing at that thing you do with your mouth."

He smiled as bright as the sun. "Yep! I'm going to be a beatboxer when we get older, you know."

"I know."

He laid his head on her shoulder, still laughing a little. "I'm going to go over to your house tomorrow, alright?"

"That's fine," she said. "But I thought that your brother was coming home?"

"Yeah, but I don't like him all that much."

"Why? I like your oldest brother."

"What about my other one?"

"I haven't really talked to him before. Which one is coming home tomorrow?"

"Jamal," Adeem said, breathing deeply. Maybe it was because she was a girl, or maybe it was because she was just awesome, but Tabitha always smelled good.

"He's the younger one, right?"

"Yeah," Adeem said. "You like Rashad."

"Like in the bible."

"Huh?"

"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego."

"Oh," he said, lifting up his head. "I've never read the bible."

"I know," she said, smiling at him. "When we get married, can we move somewhere cold? Like where there's snow and mountains?"

Stretching a little, he said, "Whatever you want, Tabitha. I won't be home that much anyways."

"Why not?"

"My band, Tabby," he said with an eye roll.

"What about the whole 'beatboxer' thing?"

"Why did you do that thing with your hands?" He asked, mimicking her.

"That's air quotes."

"What are they for?"

"I'm not sure," she said, frowning. "Using them just felt right. Anyways, answer my question."

"Oh, right," he said. "I'm going to be in my rock band, but also have a side project. You can do that, you know."

"Yeah," she said, rolling her eyes. "I was thinking about that dog that I'm going to get."

"What about it?"

"Just how great it'll be."

"What about Tank?"

"He's old. He'll probably be dead by the time we get married."

"I don't know," Adeem said. "16 with our parents' permission."

"Still," she said. "Besides, my dad don't like you."

"Doesn't like me," he corrected. "It's fine though, Tabs, you mess up a lot more than you know."

"Whatever."

He laughed as her dad's car pulled up. Tabitha didn't tell him goodbye. Instead, she did something that made his head hurt from thinking too much about later. She kissed his cheek before running off.

"How was Adeem's?" Fang asked. It was late, around ten, and she had been over there all day.

"Perfect."

* * *

><p>"Guess what?"<p>

"What?" I asked Alex. It was the next day and I had picked her up right after getting Ty from Damien's house.

"My brother Juan is getting married!"

Tyler rolled his eyes, clearly not excited. "Weddings are stupid."

"No," Tabitha said, rolling her eyes. She was in the front seat, everyone else in the back. "Right, Adeem?"

"Yeah, sure,' he said from his spot next to Alex. She was in the middle, keeping Tyler and Adeem from arguing. We had picked him up first.

"Is your wedding going to be big, Tabitha?" Alex asked.

"The biggest."

Alex giggled. "I like weddings."

"Me too."

The boys clearly didn't feel the same about that. Adeem sighed loudly, and Tyler started to tell Alex about something funny Lucas had done, just to change the subject.

When we got home, Tyler and Alex ran off to his bedroom, while Tabitha and Adeem went to the garage. As Fang was at the store again today, I was stuck with the other kids. Mom's here though. That's who had the kids while I was out.

"I love you," Neo told my mother, holding out a piece of paper to her. He had drawn and colored on it. "For you."

Mom smiled at him, taking the paper. "Thank you, Neo."

Jason frowned. "No! Love me!"

"I love you both."

"Where's Chris?" I asked, taking off my shoes.

"He's taking a nap."

"And James?"

"He's in his room, I think, with Cody."

"Luke?"

"In his bedroom, I guess, Max."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Boys, who wants to go take a nap?"

"Me!" Neo forgot his love for my mother and remembered his obsession with me. Lance was too busy licking his hand to care about me. I think Mom had given them chocolate and his had melted. Either that or his breath will be smelling like poo for awhile. Anyways, I took Neo with me to take a nap. I always knew I liked him best.

* * *

><p>Tabitha and Adeem were in the garage, doing nothing, when James came into the room.<p>

"Hi, Tabby."

She groaned. "Go away, James."

"You don't wanna play with me?"

"No," she said, rolling her eyes.

James began to cry and stomp his feet. "I-I only wanna play with you! Max! Max!"

"No, don't," Tabitha said quickly, getting up to grab him before he could make it out of the room. "Don't go tell Max or Dr. Martinez."

He sniffled, trying to stop crying, but not being able to. "I just wanna play with you!"

"Alright, alright, we'll play tonight, okay?"

He started heaving. "P-promise?"

"Yes, James. Now stop it."

After a few minutes, he was calm enough to leave the garage. Adeem frowned at Tabitha.

"Why were you so nice to him?"

"If he went in there crying, I would have gotten in trouble."

"He cries a lot," Adeem said as she came to sit down next to him again.

"Yeah, well, he's just special," she said, not believing that she was somewhat defensive about him.

"Is it hard? Dealing with all of them?"

She shrugged, leaning against the wall for support. "I guess so, yeah. I get to be in charge of them though."

"That must be fun."

"It is," she said, playing with a piece of paper she found on the ground. "It's so boring at my house."

"No," he said, looking at her. "We just have to wait until that vet leaves. She's always looking at me like I've done something wrong."

"That's because you probably have done something wrong."

"Yeah, but not nothing she knows about."

* * *

><p>Cameron was stuck with her daughter today and she needed to do errands. The first of many was calling her brother. Not that tedious, but not all that fun either.<p>

"Hey, Cammie."

"Hi," she sighed, hearing his voice. "I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Well…remember when you were obsessed with me moving down to North Carolina?"

"Yes," he said. "Are you-"

"Sam's starting school in the fall, and I was just thinking that I didn't like moving and changing schools, so we should probably find a place and, you know, just stay there."

"You want to move here?" He asked.

"No…I'm not sure."

"Have you talked to Damien?"

She rolled her eyes. "Why would I need to?"

"Cameron-"

"He's not going to want to, but he will move," she said. "We'll just be fighting for a long time about it."

She could almost picture her brother rolling his eyes. "Cameron, this is something that you have to talk to him about before me."

"He always does what I want."

"Cameron, just talk to him."

She shook her head. "Paul-"

"Look!" Samantha held up a stuffed animal. "I found it!"

Cameron clicked her tongue. "I'll have to call you back, Paul."

"What? Cameron-"

She hung up on him before staring hard at her daughter. "Where did you get that, Samantha?"

Frowning, the little girl said, "Under my bed."

"Samantha Nichole, you had better tell me the truth right now before you end up in more trouble."

She stomped her feet. "Got it in the room."

"What room?"

"The one I'm not 'possed to go in."

"That is Tommy's, Samantha. Go put it back."

"Please? I like it-"

"Now!"

She started crying, running off to go do as her mother asked. Cameron laid down on the couch, no longer concerned with the errands. Tommy's room wasn't the same anymore. Damien had eventually gotten her to go through it and get rid of the bed and stuff. Now, there were just boxes with the things that she kept in them. That didn't mean that Samantha could go through them. God.

Samantha came back down the stairs and sat down on the floor, far away from her mother. Cameron saw this and rolled her eyes. She desperately wanted to feel the way she used to feel about Samantha, but she couldn't. When she was first born, Cameron would have given her up for her nephew in a heartbeat. Now though, she had slowly grown to…enjoy the girl and would have a hard time even imagining life without her.

"Hate Mommy," Samantha cried to her imaginary friend, Pam. Pam understood everything. She got that it wasn't fair. Who was Tommy anyways? How come she couldn't play with his toys? And, more importantly, how come Mommy loved him more?


	5. Chapter 5

Broken

Chapter 5

Fang had an upset stomach. And not the throw up kind either.

"Smell bad," Jason told me, holding his nose. "Like poop."

"It is poop," Tyler told him, frowning.

I groaned. I told Fang that he wasn't supposed to do that in our bathroom, because then I can smell it in the bedroom.

"Come on, boys, I'm going to nap in the living room."

My boys followed faithfully behind me, like always. Adeem and Tabitha were in the living room already, watching TV.

"Tabitha? You wanna go up to your room?"

"No," she said.

"Fine," I said, frowning at her before going up to the stairs. Tyler and Jason followed. I went into Tabitha's bedroom and laid down on her bed.

"She says that I'm not allowed on her bed," Tyler told me as Jason got up there with me. "I'm going to go play my drums."

"Softly," I told him.

"Um…how?"

I shrugged. "Figure it out."

After he was gone, it was just me and Jason. He had curled against my side. Tabitha's bed was small, but it wasn't that bad.

"I'm three," he randomly told me.

"Are you?"

"Yep!"

"How old is Cody going to be tomorrow?"

He frowned. "No know. Not Cody, I'm Jason."

Laughing, I closed my eyes. "That you are."

* * *

><p>"What?"<p>

Cameron nodded. "It's just a thought, Damien."

"I am _not_ moving, Cameron. End of story."

She huffed. "Damien, don't just dismiss me."

He stared up the stairs. "Cameron, everything that's important to me is here."

"Not if I'm not."

"What? Are you going to leave me because like where I live?"

She looked past him. He was standing on the staircase, looking as pissed as she felt. "No, idiot. I just want you to at least listen to my point."

"Fine, what?"

"What's really holding us here? Your parents?" She shook her head. "Your father doesn't even like you."

He frowned at her. "Cameron, Samantha's friends are here."

"Who? Fang and Max's kids don't count."

"Why not?"

"Because, she doesn't even really like them," she said. "Only Lucas. Damien, come on."

"No," he said, going up the staircase. Why didn't she get it? He loved it here. He grew up here. This was his town. She just needed to learn to accept it.

* * *

><p>"-thought I was okay, I was planning your final struggle-"<p>

"What are you singing, Neo?"

"Already head."

"Dead, idiot," Tyler said, rolling his eyes.

"You don't need to be listening to whatever the hell that is anymore," I told him, glancing away from the TV to stare at him. "You either, Tyler. You're demented enough."

"That's Silver…something. Daddy's favorite band," he said, getting onto the couch next to me. "See Daddy soon?"

"He'll be here tomorrow, yes."

"Here for Cody's birthday!"

"Uh-huh. And he's staying for yours too."

"Mine long time away."

"Not really," I said. I was thinking in adult time though. I'm sure to him, it was a long ways away.

"What 'bout Julie?" He asked, frowning. "She come?"

"Not tomorrow, no, but she'll be down here eventually."

"No," Neo whined.

"Shut up!" Tyler glared at him. "I wish you were already d-"

"Tyler, if you finish that sentence, Alex can't come over later."

"I don't like you!" He ran off up the stairs. Not like? What happened to hate? If I was a caring mother, I might have thought about that for awhile, but hello, the Kardashians are on.

"Where's Tabitha?" James asked from the floor. He was making Cody a birthday card.

"She and Adeem are in her room." She had yelled at me when she found me in her bed. Well, not me, but Lucas, who had come in there later. You'd think that he's dirty or something…

"I love her," James told me. "I love you. I love Fang. Where's Fang?"

"He's still in the potty."

James giggled. "Max?"

"What, baby?" Has he not realized that I want to listen to Khloe and Kim instead of him?

"If Neo's daddy's coming, is mine?"

I sighed. "No, James. I'm sorry."

"My mommy?"

"No," I said, ready for the tears. He had none.

"I don't care," he told me, sniffling, but not crying. "Not gonna cry 'bout them, right?"

"Right."

Cody came into the room. "Daddy says he needs more toilet paper."

"Go get him some, Code," I said as James hid the card he was making.

He groaned, but went up the stairs to get some.

* * *

><p>Tabitha was drawing while Adeem counted her money for her. It was from her past birthdays and Christmases.<p>

"You should have done this sooner," he said. "I mean, his birthday is tomorrow, Tabitha."

"Adeem, shut up."

He sighed, still counting. "You know, I could steal from you right now."

"I know."

"You must trust me a lot."

"Just shut up and finish counting it."

He sighed. A minute later, he said, "Four hundred and fifty two dollars. Damn, Tabitha."

She smiled. "I never spend my money, except on my brothers' birthdays."

"And mine."

"And yours. Oh, Alex's too. Besides, that, I just keep it."

"For what?" He asked, making it into a nice pile.

"I don't know."

"Well, when we get married, we'll use all your money for food and stuff. If you keep saving it, we'll have a lot by then."

"Yeah," she agreed.

"When you said brothers, did you mean James and them too?"

"Yes."

"So you call them your brothers?"

"I guess so, yeah. Why do you care?"

"It was just a question," he said, going to put the money back in her dresser drawer, keeping one twenty out. "Who's taking us to get his present?"

"Cameron said that she'd take us to lunch today. I'll ask her to stop by a store or something."

Laying the twenty down on the bed, he said, "I'm no good at keeping money."

"You're good at stealing it though."

He smiled, sitting next to her on the bed. "Can I have a twenty, Tabitha?"

"No."

"What?"

"I already saw the twenty that you put in your pocket," she said, not looking up. "Just keep that one."

He frowned. "I didn't-"

"Don't lie more than you already have."

"I thought that you trusted me?"

"I never answered that when you said it," she told him. "I knew you'd take some money from me. I just didn't care."

"I was going to give it back," he tried.

"Just keep it, Adeem," she sighed. "I knew you were a thief anyways. I'm not shocked."

He got upset. "I'm not a thief, Tabitha. I was going to give it back."

"Okay, whatever."

"I was!"

"Alright."

He took the twenty from his pocket and threw it at her. "That's why I asked if I could have a twenty. Then I was going to tell you I already had one and brag about how good I am at sneaking stuff."

"You mean stealing stuff."

"I was going to give it back!"

She shook her head, saying nothing.

* * *

><p>I was in bed with Fang, rubbing his stomach.<p>

"We need to make the kids lunch," I told him.

"Who all's here?"

"Everyone except for Tabitha."

"Where'd she go?"

"Cameron took her and Adeem out to eat."

"Great," he groaned. "Baby, can you go out and get all the boys burgers or something? There's money in my wallet on the dresser. I'll stay here. My stomach's too upset to move."

"You need to watch the boys, though."

"Send them in here."

I took Lucas, Neo, and James with me, and made the other kids go into the bedroom with Fang. Except for Tyler. He's still mad at me. Whatever. Little brat.

"Max, I want chicken nuggets," Neo said. "No burger."

"Neo, if I get you chicken nuggets, I have to get Lance chicken nuggets."

"That's fine."

Sighing, I pulled out of the driveway. James, who was sitting in the front, turned on the radio. He put it onto the classical music station.

"James, what are you doing?"

"I like this," he said, giggling.

"You're weird," Neo told him. "I like Gaga."

"I think you liked Silverstein?" I asked.

"Not as much as Gaga," he told me enthusiastically. "Can't read my, can't read my, no he can eat my sucker face, I ain't gonna eat my mommy. Can't read my, c-"

"Stop," I told him. "You're not even singing it right."

"I know a song," Lucas said. "Blame it on the booze, got you feeling loose, blame-"

"God, what do you kids listen to?"

"What you listen to."

"Here, listen to this," I said, turning up the radio. James smiled brightly that I was going to keep playing his classical crap.

"This sucks," Lucas said.

I was inclined to agree, but James seemed to be enjoying it.

"Don't say that."

"It does though! Only idiots would wanna listen to it."

James's eyes started to water. "I'm not an idiot. Max!"

"Shhh, baby," I sighed. "Lucas, say sorry."

"He's such a baby," he grumbled. "Sorry, James."

James sniffled loudly. "I'm not a baby."

"I know you're not," I told him. Why does everyone have to be mean to James? He's so sweet.

* * *

><p>Adeem and Tabitha weren't talking. That was fine with Cameron. She was mad about the whole Damien thing. After awhile though, it kind of got awkward.<p>

"What's up with you two? You haven't said a word."

"She called me a thief," Adeem accused.

"You are a thief."

Cameron frowned. "What did you steal, Adeem?"

"I played a joke on her, that's all."

"I had him count my money and he took a twenty," Tabitha tattled. "When I brought it up, he got all mad."

"I was going to tell her," Adeem defended. "She just called me out on it before I had the chance. That's all. It would have been funny, huh?"

Cameron shook her head. "Tabitha, you should never let one of your friends around your money."

"You and Damien take each others money," she said.

"That's because we're married."

"We're gonna get married one day."

"And when you do, I won't say anything about it," Cameron finished. "Alright?"

Ignoring the older woman, Tabitha reached over and took some of Adeem's fries.

"Tabitha, you just technically stole from him," Cameron said, frowning a little.

"It's okay," Adeem said as he handed Tabitha the ketchup.

"Yeah," Tabitha said. "Besides, I don't care that much if he takes my money."

"You don't?" Adeem asked.

"No, I'm just mad that you lied to me."

He tilted his head to the side. "So you don't care none about me taking it at all?"

"No," Tabitha said, taking a sip of his drink. He had gotten orange soda and everyone knows that orange soda tastes better when it's someone else's. "I don't care what you do, as long as you don't cheat on me."

Adeem considered this. "That's cool, I guess."

Rolling her eyes, Cameron said, "Tabitha, don't just let him take your stuff."

"I'm not," Adeem said. "I'm gonna pay her back, when my band takes off."

"Yeah," Tabitha agreed. "First you have to get a band, though."

"Lay off," he said. "You ain't got a band either."

"I don't need one. I'm going to marry Shaun White, remember?"

"Shut up," he said, going ahead and putting the rest of his fries on her plate. "Just shut up."

* * *

><p>The next day, Fang's stomach felt better. Yesterday, we had Trevor watch the shop. Today he told us that he had something to do, so we just closed. After all, it is Cody's birthday. Plus, neither of us really wanted to be there anyways.<p>

James was in a bad mood. Not a bad mood like an angry, Tyler mood. A bad mood like a crying one. I mean, he cries daily, but not this bad.

"And I want my daddy back. Max!" He reached out for me. "I hate it. I don't wanna be here. Max!"

I was trying to sleep and that's what woke me up. "What?"

It was around nine and everyone else had been up, but me. Apparently, someone had made him upset during my absence.

He got into bed with me, crying loudly. Fang came into the room, seeming out of breath.

"There you are," he said. "James, why did you run off? Huh? We were watching X-Men. You love X-Men."

He kept crying.

"What happened?" I asked, trying to comfort him. "Fang?"

"We were in the attic, watching TV, and he got upset that Jean turned into Phoenix. He wasn't crying yet though. Lucas called him a baby and then he started. He ran off to come get you."

"James, baby, stop."

He tried, but couldn't. "I'm not a baby!"

Cody walked into the room. "James?"

"I'm not!"

"Okay?" Cody got into the bed too. "Lucas is just mean."

James started whimpering as Cody ran a hand down his friend's back. "I miss my mommy."

"I know," I told him, sighing. Fang came over to us and took James from me.

"Max, James and I are going to go somewhere."

"Can I come?" Cody asked.

"No."

"It's my birthday."

"And we'll be back in time for your party," Fang said, walking out of the room with James. Cody looked at me, but I just shrugged before going back to sleep. What? It's not even twelve yet.

* * *

><p>James had never really been somewhere with Fang alone. Not that he remembered at least.<p>

"Don't we have to get the others ice cream?" James asked as Fang handed him his cone.

"They'll get some with their cake later. Right now, this is just for you."

Happy, James followed Fang out of the store. "How come I get some and no one else?"

"I wanted to talk to you," Fang said, leading him back to the car. "You know, I don't have a mommy or daddy either."

"Duh. You're, like, eighty."

Fang frowned. "No… Do I look old?"

James nodded. "Old as Max."

"Max isn't old."

James crawled into the car. "Old as Aunt Cameron and Uncle Damien."

Fang sighed, getting in too. "Try not to drop your ice cream, alright?"

James nodded, licking some of the frozen chocolate. "Thank you for the ice cream. I love you, Fang."

"I know, James," Fang sighed. "Anyways, I never had a mommy or daddy."

"How come?"

Fang shrugged. "I don't know. I…didn't know them."

"Max says that you went to school and got hit with erasers."

Laughing a little, Fang turned on the car. "Something like that, yeah."

James stared at the man. "I'm not a baby, Fang."

"I know."

"No. You call me wimpy and a baby. I'm not."

Fang glanced at him. "You heard that?"

"Yes!" James sniffled as tears threatened to fall. "Max says that it's good I cry. I'm not a meathead. What's a meathead?"

"Nothing," Fang said, shaking his head. "James, I didn't mean anything by that. Really."

James needed a tissue. Max always had tissues. "I don't like being called a baby."

"I'm sorry, really."

"I just miss my mommy," James said, sniffling some more.

"That's what I'm saying, James. I missed mine too," Fang went on. "I just had to suck it up. I didn't get to cry about it. I just mean…Maybe I don't get what it's like to cry when something goes wrong. I just don't cry. I only cry when something happens to one of you guys, my kids, not when something bad happens to me. I know that it's not fair, but I just don't understand you. I'll try harder, okay?"

James nodded, all his tears gone, dried up. "Okay, I guess."

"I love you, James."

Giggling, he said, "I love you too, Fang."

* * *

><p>"I got you a gift."<p>

"Thank you," Cody said.

"Not you!" She looked at Lucas. "You."

"No, Sam, that's for Cody, we already told you," Cameron said, clearly not finding her daughter cute.

Lucas sighed. "Sam, don't you wanna go play with Tyler?"

As enticing as Tyler is when Lucas is gone, he wasn't at the moment. "No."

She climbed onto the couch next to him, smiling brightly up at him. "Guess what I did today."

"I don't wanna."

"Be nice," I told Lucas. What? I like Samantha.

"What?" He asked.

"I drew you a picture!"

"That's great," he sighed, staring blankly at her.

She hugged him. "I love you, Lucas."

"Mom."

I sighed. "Lucas, just be nice."

"I don't love you, Samantha, okay?" He pushed her away and stood up. "Just leave me alone. I'm only nice to you because they make me. I think that you're dumb and stupid and a big baby! I don't wanna be a boyfriend to a baby! You're only, like, what? Two? Three?"

"I'm four."

"And? Find a boyfriend your own age."

She frowned before beginning to cry. Seizing the moment, Neo walked over and got onto the couch with her.

"I'll be your boyfriend," he offered. "If you do what I say like with Lucas and draw me pictures."

Samantha looked up at him, as if weighing her options. "Okay."

And that was that.

* * *

><p>"You have a what?"<p>

Neo nodded, hugging his father. "Right, Samantha?"

She giggled. "Yeah."

"Lucas was being a butt and didn't like her. I like her…long as she does what I say and makes me pictures."

Gasman shook his head. Lucas, who was pouting in the corner, did not look as thrilled as you'd think he would be.

"She was mine first," Lucas said. "And I only didn't want to date her because I didn't want to go to jail when I get older for dating a kid, Neo."

"Shut up," Neo said. "She's mine now and you can't ever have her again."

"Yes, I can!" Lucas looked at Samantha. "I guess you can be my girlfriend again, Samantha."

She hugged Neo. "No. Neo's my boyfriend now. I love you, Neo."

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "Stop hugging me so much. Right now I need you to go get me a soda."

She let him go and went off to do it. I frowned.

"Neo, don't just sit there and boss her around."

"It's his girlfriend," Fang said. "Let him do what he wants."

"I agree with Max," Damien said.

"Shut up," Cameron told him, rolling her eyes. He listened.

James shook his head. "Why do you want a boyfriend, Samantha? 'specially Neo or Lucas. They smell."

"No," Samantha said, coming back with the drink. "You smell."

Neo smiled, taking the drink from her. "Thank you."

Adeem and Tabitha came down the stairs. After giving Gasman a hug, she asked, "Is it time for cake?"

"Yeah," Cody said. "I want cake."

"Presents first," I told them. "Fang, go get the presents."

Grumbling as he went, Fang got up. I took his seat, Jason climbing into my lap.

"When it's my birthday, I'll let you open my gifts," Neo told Samantha. "If you want."

"Okay," she said as the two of them sat down on the floor.

"Wanna spend the night?" He asked. "Stay up late and play with Daddy."

"No," Sam said, shaking her head. "Gotta go home. Peter needs me."

Neo nodded, as if he understood. Fang came back and sat Cody's gifts on the floor.

"Alright, present time." He turned back to the stairs. "Tyler! Alex! Come on."

"What about cake?" Cody groaned. "I don't care about these. Here, Neo. You, Lance, and Jason can open them."

"Stop!" Neo yelled as Lance tried to get at the presents. "You and Jason don't get to. Sam does. See, Max? I'm a good boyfriend."

"Cody, just open the presents," Fang sighed.

* * *

><p><strong>July<strong>

"It's hot," Neo said. "I wanna go swimming."

"I told you that we would tomorrow," I said. We used Luther's pool for that. What? Do you know how much upkeep we have to have for that place? We should freaking live in that damn house. "Now shush, Jerry is on."

"Daddy says bad show," Jason told me. "No watch!"

"Then go away."

"Wow, should I be writing down parenting tips?" Gasman asked.

"Shut up," I said, frowning at him. Lance, who was in my lap, started bouncing up and down.

"Num num," he said, giggling. "Hi!"

"Lance, be quiet."

He leaned back against me. "'ax."

"How come they always fight on this show?" James asked. "Do they not like each other?"

"Shhh," I said.

"Max, why do you watch these shows?" Gasman asked.

"It makes me realize just how good we got it," I said. "We might be white trash, but not this bad. And look at all that ghetto shit. We ain't nearly that bad."

"Max, don't curse!"

Neo shook his head. "Max go sit corner. Now!"

"Oh, shush, Neo."

"C'is?"

"He's with Fang, Lance."

He cried for a second before settling with just biting my hand. I got up and put him in the corner, where he sulked for awhile.

Cody started humming to himself. Giggling, Neo got up and went over to me as I laid down on the couch.

"Hi, Max!"

"Stop it," I said, pushing his head slightly. "Why can't you guys play with each other, huh? I like being left alone."

"No," Lance said from the corner. "Max!"

"What, Lance?"

"'cared."

"Of what?"

He just moaned, having only wanted me to take him out of the corner. James went over there and patted him on the head.

"Don't be upset," he told him. "Stop."

Lance bit him too and James began to cry loudly. I groaned.

"James, come here."

He ran over to me. "He bit me!"

"Shhh, James. You shouldn't have bothered him."

Gasman shook his head. "Max, you have too many kids."

"No," I said, staring at James as he stopped crying and went back over to mess with Lance again. "Just hardheaded kids."

* * *

><p>Adeem and Tabitha were at his house again. Today, they were laying on his bed, watching videos that they weren't supposed to on youtube.<p>

"What's your mom's name?"

Tabitha blinked. That was a weird question to ask. "Lydia. Why?"

"I was just wondering."

"What else are you wondering?"

He kept watching the video. "I wanna meet her."

"I don't even know her, Adeem."

"Like, at all?"

"Nope."

"Do you miss her?"

"No, Adeem."

"Okay, sorry for asking," he said as the video ended.

"It's fine," she said, rolling onto her back. "I don't care none."

He rolled onto his back too. "What do you wanna do now?"

"We could play video games."

"No."

"Watch TV?"

"I don't want to."

"Then what?"

He sighed. "Summer is so boring."

"No," Tabitha said, shaking her head. "Just days when we got nothing to do."

"Most days are like that."

She turned onto her stomach again. "Tomorrow we're going over to Luther's house to swim. You want to come?"

"No," he said, shocking her.

"Why not?"

"I'm going over to Kenny's house tomorrow."

"Oh."

"I mean, we've hung out everyday this week."

"Yeah, I know."

"It gets boring, right?"

Oh, so spending time with her was boring? "Whatever."

"Are you mad at me?"

"No."

"Yes, you are." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, making her push him, blushing slightly.

"Cut it out," she said, frowning at him.

"What?" He stared at her. "Tony and Jenna kiss, like lip kiss, and they've only been going out for a few days. We've been together forever, Tabitha. And what about that time that you kissed me?"

"I only did that to make you feel better about sucking at beatboxing!"

"I do not suck at beatboxing," he said, trying to sound offended, but it was hard. His obsession with beatboxing had faded quickly. "I bet you'd kiss Shaun White!"

Angered by this, she leaned over and kiss him on the lips. It was weird. She pulled away quickly. "There, happy?"

No, not really. It wasn't as great as Kenny made it sound. Tabitha's lips felt dry and odd against his own. Adeem frowned, looking back at the laptop. "Let's watch more videos."

She laid back down. "Fine."


	6. Chapter 6

Broken

Chapter 6

Tabitha and Adeem have been acting weird, I think. I'm choosing to ignore it at the moment though, as I've been busier dealing Neo and Samantha.

"You guys what?"

Neo nodded. "Yep! Now we're married."

"Fang!"

He and Damien came running downstairs from the attic. "What?"

I pointed to the two kids. "Talk to them."

"Why?" Damien went over to his daughter. "What happened, Sam?"

"Me and Neo had 'ex."

"What's that?" Fang asked, frowning.

"Sex," Neo clarified.

"What?" Damien picked up Samantha. "What the-"

"How, buddy?" Fang asked, frowning. "What did you two do?"

Looking as if he were in deep thought, Neo began to frown. I don't think he knew the words to explain. "We slept together."

"Yeah, but how?" Fang asked again.

"Slept!"

Fang sighed loudly. "Damien, chill out. I think he thinks that taking an nap together is sex."

Neo reached out for Fang to pick him up. Once he did, Neo said, "Just like you and Max."

Damien looked down at Sam. "That's not sex, Samantha."

She yawned. "Need more sex. Still sleepy."

"Stop calling it that!" He went over to her shoes and made her put them on. "We're leaving. Tell your friends bye, Samantha."

"Bye-bye," she said. "Love you, Neo."

"No go! Spend the night."

"No," Damien said before walking out of the house. Well someone's uptight.

* * *

><p>"Damien, they were just playing."<p>

"No!" He was clearly upset. And who wouldn't be? That stupid little brat, Neo. "Cameron, I don't think that she should play with him anymore."

"Finally," Cameron sighed, exasperated. "I have only been wanting to move out of this town forever."

Damien froze. "What? Cameron, I said nothing about moving."

"That was your only argument, right? That Sam's friends are here?" Cameron turned over in bed. "Well, now that she doesn't have Neo, she has no friends here. We can move."

He was standing near the door, cleaning up. Abandoning that, he ran over to the bed and jumped in, pulling Cameron too him.

"Stop it, Damien!"

"No," he said, holding her close. "We are not moving, Cameron. Not out of this town, at least. If this house is still messing you-"

"Damien, shut up about that," she said, frowning at him. "I've moved passed that."

Which is why she still had bad dreams once a week. He just gave her a kiss on the head. "We're not moving, Cam. I was just blowing off steam. I was just mad that…I don't know."

She cuddled against him. "You were just being a daddy."

He frowned, but gave her another kiss. "Is that what I was being?"

"Yeah," she said, closing her eyes. "Let's take a nap."

'So you mean have sex?"

"Mmmm."

Damien laughed a little, making his chest vibrate, annoying Cameron. She pushed him.

"Stop it. I'm trying to sleep."

He nuzzled her neck. "You want to have sex for real?"

"No."

"Come on," he said, running his hands down her sides. "We haven't had sex in, like, two weeks."

"Max and Fang go without it a lot longer."

He frowned. "How do you know that?"

"Max tells me things."

"Like what?"

"Like how often they have sex, how long it takes-"

"Wait, you guys talk about that?" Damien asked, frowning.

"Yeah. You and Fang don't?"

"No," he said, frowning. Part of him was disgusted, but another part was very curious. "What do…I mean…what have you told her about me?"

Cameron frowned. "Just that you're amazing."

"Liar."

"I am not."

"…So we have more sex than them?"

"Yeah," Cameron said, turning so that her back was pressed against his chest. "A lot more now. But they have all those kids over there, you know. We only have to worry about Sam. She's easy to keep out of the bedroom."

He frowned. "How do you keep her out?"

"I told her that if she ever comes into our room without knocking, I'd give her room to Peter and make her sleep out in your art s-"

"What? Cameron!"

"Shut up before she comes in here."

He shook his head. "Why do you act like you don't love her?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cameron said, settling into his chest. "Now be quiet. I just got off work and am I tired."

He kissed her head before getting up. Cameron groaned.

"Where are you going, Damien?"

"Out to the shed. Don't worry, I'll take Sam with me, wouldn't want her to annoy you."

"Damien-"

He closed the door behind him.

* * *

><p>Neo was in Gasman's lap, telling him all about it.<p>

"Yeah," Neo said. "Love Sam, so much."

Gazzy smiled at him. "Neo, like Fang told you, that's not sex."

"Yes!" He cuddled against his father. "Huh, Max?"

"Yep."

"Max, don't tell him that," Gasman said, frowning.

"Yes, it is," I said, nodding my head. Honestly, I would rather him take naps with girls when he's fourteen than actually have sex with them. Chris, who was in my lap, burped loudly. It was quickly echoed by Lucas, then Tyler, and finally, the master as he came down the stairs.

"Fang, stop that. Yours are way too loud," I said, holding Chris to me. "Have you checked on Adeem and Tabitha?"

"No," he said, coming over to Gasman to take Neo from him. "Aren't they outside?"

"No, stupid, they're in her bedroom."

"With the door closed?"

"What? Is that a new rule?"

Ignoring me, he went back up the stairs. Sighing, I looked down at Chris.

"Do you think Daddy is crazy? Huh?"

Giggling, he leaned up and kissed me. "Mama!"

"Hi," I said, smiling at him. "I love you."

"'ove," he said, giggling.

* * *

><p>"Remember when you kissed me last week?"<p>

Tabitha blushed. "You kissed me first."

"Yeah, I know, but you remember?"

"Yes, Adeem."

He stared at her. "I think maybe you didn't do it right."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

She frowned at him. "How do you know that you didn't do it right?"

"Because," he said, looking as cocky as always, "I'm me, Tabitha."

"Whatever."

"You know how I'll prove it's you?"

"How?" She asked, only half listening. They were sitting across from each other on her bed, her drawing, him just being annoying.

"I'll kiss someone else and see if I like it with them. Then we'll know-"

"No," she said, still not looking up.

"What do you mean no?"

"I mean exactly what I said. No."

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because, Adeem, I said no."

"It's not like I'm gonna get another girlfriend or something," he said, frowning at her. "Just kiss someone else."

"No."

"Come on, Tabitha," he pleaded. "Just once."

"No."

"Why are you such a bitch all the time?"

"Don't call me that, alright?"

He shook his head. "It's okay, Tabitha. My brother said that if you aren't good at kissing, you're good at other things with your mouth."

She started hitting him in the face, hard.

"Leave me alone!"

"Don't ever say something about me like that again!" She finally just pushed him off the bed. "And stay down there."

"Don't hit me again, or else I'll hit you!"

"I dare you."

They stared at each other for a long time before Adeem got up. "I'm leaving."

"Good!"

As he reached to open the door, it was opened by Fang.

"Make him go home, Dad," Tabitha said.

"No!" Adeem said. "He can't make me. I'm leaving on my own."

Fang just smiled. Either way was fine with him.

* * *

><p>"What did he say?"<p>

Tabitha stared up at me. "That I'm not a good kisser."

I frowned. What was she? Eleven? I didn't kiss anyone tell I was fourteen! "You guys kissed?"

She blushed. "No…"

I sighed. "That's all he said? How would he know?"

"He said that he just knows, because he knows everything. Then he said that he would kiss someone else. I said no and hit him…a few times. He said that he'd hit me if I did it again."

"You hit him because he wanted to kiss someone else?"

"N- I mean, yes."

"Tabitha-"

"I did, okay?"

"Well, don't hit him anymore, alright?" I started to walk out of her room, but I stopped. "You guys…are you really…when you kissed…just leave it at kissing, alright?"

She blushed deeper. "Max!"

"What? If you weren't kissing him, I wouldn't have said it," I said before walking out of the room. Ew! I can never look at him the same!

* * *

><p>Cameron smiled at me. "Max, really?"<p>

"What? Isn't eleven, like, way too young to kiss?"

"No," she said, rolling her eyes. "I was seven when I first kissed a guy, seventeen when I kissed a girl."

I chocked on my drink. "What?"

She looked hard at me. "When you were a teen, you never-"

"No!"

She shrugged. "But you never smoked pot either."

"I didn't say _that_," I said.

Laughing, she took another bite of her salad. "How old is Adeem?"

"He's birthday is the 30th of July."

Cameron looked at me funny. "Um-"

"She's told me a million times," I said with an eye roll. "I think they might be broken up now, though."

It was two days later and also the day before Neo's birthday. Juliet came into town last night and made Gasman come stay with her at the hotel. He had been staying at our house, sleeping on the floor of Neo and Jay's room, but Juliet is too good to sleep on the fucking couch. Whatever.

"Why?"

"They haven't talked since then."

"How does Fang feel about them kissing now?"

"He doesn't know, which is fine by me. I don't even want to deal with him when he does find out."

She opened her mouth to say something, but her cell went off. She groaned. "It's Damien. Here, you answer it."

"What?"

"I don't want to talk to him," she said, sliding the phone across the table. I sighed.

"Hello?"

Damien paused. "Um…Wrong-"

"It's Max, Damien." God, really?"

"Oh," he sighed. "Good. Hey, is Cam there?"

"Cam?" I looked at her. "Is Cameron here?"

He paused. "That's what I asked, yeah."

She shook her head. "I'm in the bathroom."

"She's in the bathroom."

"Oh…well we can talk till she gets out."

"She's going to be in there a long time," I said as she kicked me under the table. "Yesterday, she said that she ate a lot of beans."

"…I'll wait."

No way was I going to talk to him. "Here, she's back."

"Max," she hissed as I slide the phone over to her. Groaning, she answered, "What, Damien? No, I was not in the bathroom. Max is just a- What? Oh...tell him I'll be home later. I don't know, Damien. Just leave him alone."

She glanced down at her food. "Soon, Damien. Superman, just deal with it? Yeah, I like you too. Yes, like. Love if you take care of things while I'm gone. Alright? Goodbye."

"Who's are your house?"

"My father."

* * *

><p>"You can sit, if you want," Damien tried, staring at the man. He went over to the couch and pushed off Samantha's toys. She frowned.<p>

"No, Daddy. They were sitting," she whined. "Daddy."

Damien sighed. "Sam, just be quiet, okay?"

Patrick regarded the little girl with interest. "What is your name, again?"

She glared at him. "I don't like you!"

"Samantha!"

"He made my toys fall," she said, going to get them before the mean man could take them.

He just blinked before looking back at Damien. "What did my daughter say?"

"Uh, she's hurrying," he said. Samantha began to go up the stairs. "Where are you going, Samantha?"

"To have sex."

"Sam!"

Patrick blinked. "She's very blunt and crude, isn't she?"

"That's what she calls taking a nap," Damien said as his stomach churned. He needed Cameron here to deal with this and take care of him. He really didn't feel good. He told her that before she left to go eat lunch with Max, but she went anyways, promising to come back soon.

"How very peculiar…"

Who uses the word peculiar? Damien felt like he was on the chopping block. Besides those few days Patrick had stayed with them, Damien had no contact with him, and neither did Cameron as far as he knew. It was scary, being around him. It was like after gym class and having to shower. You knew that you were going to be judged, you just didn't know if you were going to have to hear about it too.

"I'm home!"

Cameron slammed the door behind her. Her eyes found her father's. "Why are you here?"

It was ten minutes later, and he was now sitting on the couch as Damien was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, watching.

"Could it not just be to see y-"

"What do you want?"

He sighed. "My wife, Terry, we…just divorced."

"I thought your wife's name was Janice?" Damien asked, but shut up after a glare from his own wife.

"I am unable to go home for now," Cameron's father went on as if Damien had not even spoken. "It's…not the same."

"And? I don't want you here."

"Please?" Her father got up. She hadn't heard him use the word please since she was…she wasn't sure. "Cameron, I…your brother turned me down. You're my only…family left now."

"You should have thought of that before."

"Before what?"

"You acted like act like and ass and left us."

"I-"

"Mommy!" Samantha came running down the stairs. "Can I go see Neo?"

Cameron sighed as the four year old ran over to her, stopping at her feet. Giggling, she wrapped her arms around her mother's legs.

"No," Cameron said, shaking her off. "Now go away. I'm busy."

Samantha looked at Patrick. "He's mean, Mommy. Make him leave."

Sighing, Cameron picked up her daughter. "Go."

Patrick shook his head. "What would be so bad about me staying here for a few days?"

"Everything," she said. "Damien, make him leave."

She started up the stairs before Damien said the one word that would always stop her.

"No."

She walked back down. "What did you just say?"

"No," he said. "You make me make all your family leave, every time they come. You deal with it this time."

"Damien-"

"No," he said again, as if the word were morphine and one time could get you hooked. "Your father, your problem. I'll be in the shed."

With that, he left. Cameron was no longer concerned with her father and what he did, only with making sure Damien pay for ever even thinking of telling her no.

* * *

><p>James giggled, cuddling against me. "Max?"<p>

"I'm napping, James."

He made me wrap my arms around him. "I love you."

"I'm sleeping."

He just giggled. "Did you see Aunt Cameron today?"

"Yes."

"She miss me?"

"Horribly."

Giggling again, he asked, "Did she want to see me?"

"She will tomorrow at Neo's party."

"What about Damien?"

"Yes."

"Dr. Martinez?"

"Yes, James. Go away now or sleep. I'm tired."

He smiled. "Okay. I'll go to sleep."

I went to sleep too. A few minutes later, I felt something's hands on my chest. "Fang?"

"Hey," he whispered, kissing my head.

"What happened to James?"

"He went away," Fang said, still messing with my chest. I pushed him off.

"I'm sleeping."

"Is that what you're doing?" He grabbed my breasts again.

I groaned, and not from pleasure. "What are you doing is the question that needs to be asked."

He squeezed. "Foreplay."

"Take lessons, you suck."

He frowned as I pushed his hands away again. "Max, come on."

"I'm not in the mood."

"Yeah, well, I am. I even locked the door and everything!"

"Who's watching the kids?" I asked, frowning.

"Gazzy and his good for nothing are here," Fang said. "Now, come on. I told him ten minutes."

"What?" I got up. "Fuck you, Fang."

"That's what I'm trying to do!"

I walked out of the room and into the living room. Gasman frowned.

"Dang, Fang. Quicker than I thought."

"Max!" Fang came up behind me. "Wait."

"No," I said, shrugging him off. I went up to Tabitha's room to nap. She was drawing.

"What?" She asked, looking up at me.

"I'm going to sleep," I said, going over to her bed. "Get up."

Groaning, she got up and walked out of the bedroom. She acts like I'm putting her out or something. This is kind of my freaking house.

Fang was in there in seconds. "Max, come on."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Believe it or not, I don't like being woken up with you pulling on my freaking boobs!"

"You used to."

"That was before I had a bunch of kids, Fang. I'm tired."

He scoffed at me. "From what? You went out with Cam today. You're not tired."

"Leave me alone."

"No," he said, going over to me. "Come on, Max."

"Go out and get a hooker."

"What?"

I sighed, opening my eyes. "Fang, just go in the shower and-"

"Max!"

"I don't want to have sex right now."

"And I do."

We stared at each other for a minutes before Fang jumped into bed with me.

"Fang-"

"Shhh," he mumbled, kissing my cheek. "It'll be real quick, I promise."

"Fang, we are in Tabitha's bed."

"Come on," he said, pulling on me. "Floor."

I groaned, pushing him off. "You're disgusting."

"Max-"

"No!" I slammed the door behind me. God.

* * *

><p>Samantha stared at her grandfather. "Patrick…like the starfish."<p>

"What?"

Giggling, Samantha walked out of the room. She returned with a stuffed animal. "This is Robert."

He glanced at the stuffed rabbit before looking at the staircase. His daughter had dragged her husband out of the garage before forcing him to go up the stairs. It sounded like they were arguing. "Are your parents-"

"You didn't say hi to Robert!"

No one talked to him like that, especially about a stupid toy. "It's not real."

Samantha gapped at him. "I'mma tell my grandma that you said that!"

"Grandmother?"

"Yes," Sam said, cuddling Robert to her. "Daddy's mama."

"Oh," he said. "I didn't realize she was still alive."

Samantha was confused. What else were you besides alive? She ran off again, this time returning with a cat. Not a stuffed one either.

"This is Peter," she said, holding the old, lazy cat up for him to see. "He's mean."

"Then why are you bothering him?"

"Love 'im," she said, giggling. "TV?"

"Hmmm?"

Samantha went over to the remote and handed it to Patrick. She didn't know how to turn on the TV. Daddy always did it for her. "Please?"

"I don't-"

"Please? Please, please, please?"

Sighing, he turned it on. "There."

"No. Scooby."

"I don't know what-"

"Scooby!"

He started flipping through the channels until she told him to stop. It wasn't Scooby, but it was Sponge Bob.

"Patrick," she said, pointing at the pink cartoon.

"What?"

She frowned at him. "Patrick!"

"I don't know what you want."

"Pat-"

"Samantha, what are you doing?" Cameron came down the stairs. "I told you no TV because you've been bratty all week."

Samantha jumped up and ran up the stairs to get away from her mother. She almost went into her own room, but then she heard something coming from her mommy and daddy's room. Without knocking, she opened the door.

"Daddy?"

He was leaning on the dresser, making weird noises. Samantha ran over to him, wrapping an arm around his leg.

"Daddy?"

He looked down at her, red faced. "S-Sam? Go back down stairs."

"Crying?" She nuzzled his leg. "Love you. Don't cry, Daddy."

Taking a deep breath, Damien picked his daughter up. "Mommy was just being a little mean to me."

"What'd she do?"

She told him that if he kept disobeying her orders, she would make sure that he had no say in anything about Sam. He wouldn't have believed her if she hadn't gone into the closet and got a duffle bag before beginning to fill it with her clothes. Then she said that he wasn't a good father and that she hated him. She threw the ring at him before taking off the cross and throwing it too. It was funny now to note that she didn't take off the Green Lantern ring, but it wasn't all that funny when it was still happening.

"Nothing,' he said, kissing her cheek. "I love you, Sam."

"Go trip?" She looked at Cameron's bag on the bed. "Huh?"

"No," he said, frowning. "Mommy was just…being mean. It's fine."

Giggling, she ran her fingers under his eyes, trying to wipe away his tears like he did for her when Mommy was mean. "I love you, Daddy."

He smiled a weak, shaky smile. "I love you too."

Giggling, she kissed his cheek. Damien kissed her back before going over to the discarded ring. He pocketed it before going to go get the cross. Staring at it for a second, he made a sudden decision.

"Here, Sammy," he said, putting it around her neck. "It's yours now."

"For keeps?"

"For keeps."

* * *

><p>The next day, Fang was mad at me about not having sex with him, but he was putting on a face for Neo, who was excited about his birthday. Fang wasn't the only one in a bad mood though.<p>

"Where'd you get that?" Neo asked his girlfriend, reaching out to take the cross in his hand.

"My daddy gave it to me," she told him. "For keeps."

I looked at Samantha before staring at her mother. Cameron looked pissed.

"Where's my present?" Neo asked Sam.

"Daddy has it," she said, pointing.

"Wanna go stare at my daddy's girlfriend?" Neo asked. Sam nodded and they both ran off. Fang called Damien's name from upstairs, so he ran off.

"Why does she have your-"

"Because she's a stupid little brat that gets spoiled by her father."

"Did he take it from you?" I asked.

"Well, no," she admitted. "I kind of threw my wedding ring and cross at him."

"What did he do?"

"Told me no."

"To what?" I asked, frowning.

"It's not important."

Which meant that she was probably wrong about whatever it was. I shook my head. "How did Sam get it?"

"He gave it to her and told me that I can't have it back," she said, crossing her arms. "It's my cross!"

"Where's the ring?"

"What?"

"Your wedding ring."

"Probably in Samantha's fucking toy box."

I just shook my head. The doorbell ringing stopped me from talking. Everyone was already here or so I thought.

"Tabitha!" I called after seeing who it was. I got no answer. Sighing, I told him to just go up into her room.

* * *

><p>Tabitha was in her room, drawing, when Max called for her. She just ignored it. Then her bedroom door opened.<p>

"Here."

She looked up. "Adeem? I don't want you here."

"I don't want to be here," he told her. "I just came to give you this."

He walked over to her bed and handed her the present she had bought Neo. She made him keep it at his house so that Neo didn't find it. "Then I guess you should leave now."

"Can't. My mom dropped me off for the whole day."

"I thought you just said-"

"Why can't we be friends again?" He asked, staring at her. "I'm sorry if you didn't think that I was funny."

She stared at him. "Maybe we just shouldn't kiss anymore and not talk about it."

"Ever again?"

"No," she said. "In, like, a year we can try again."

"You make it sound like something we have to do."

"You're the one that wants to do it," she said. "So…are you staying?"

"Well, I kind of have to."

"Don't make it sound like you have to spend time with me."

"I didn't," he said, offended. "Can I sit down on your bed? You're not going to hit me?"

She sighed loudly, moving over some. Adeem smiled brightly before sitting down next to her. "Are you my girlfriend again?"

"Yeah," she said. "I guess so."

"Good."

* * *

><p>Neo crossed his arms, watching as Samantha opened his presents for him. It was cute. Cameron clearly didn't think so. She was still taking out Damien giving away her cross on Sam. It wasn't fair, it was Cameron.<p>

Adeem and Tabitha are down here, sitting next to each other on the floor. They aren't too concerned with anyone, but each other. Fang was clearly ignoring them, not wanting to blow anything up.

"Don't you want to open any of your own gifts?" Mom asked Neo.

"No," Neo said. "Sam likes doing it."

I laid my head on Fang's shoulder. He shrugged me off, still mad about yesterday. Frowning, I grabbed his arm, forcing him to let me lay my head on him. The only way he could push me off now would be something that would make other people notice. We were trying to be the happy couple today, not our normal arguing selves.

"You're going to let me lay my freaking head down," I hissed at him. "I'm serious."

"Whatever," he sighed, letting my head stay. "Tonight, though, we are going to talk."

"Fine," I said. Last night, I got out of it by going to be early.

Cody sighed loudly. "Can we have cake now?"

"Shhh!" Neo got mad. "Sam is opening presents!"

"Thank you," Samantha said, smiling at him. Neo smiled back.

"Welcome. Now finish."

Giggling, she grabbed the last present. It was the biggest.

"Wow," Neo said, pushing her out of the way after she opened it. "It's Buzz!"

Tyler rolled his eyes. "I have a stupid Buzz Lightyear, Neo."

"Yeah, but yours is old and nasty," Lucas said, looking at Neo with envy. "His is cool."

"I think yours is cool," Alex told her friend. He just scowled at her.

"Can I play with Buzz?" Sam asked as Neo ripped into the box.

"No!"

"Oh…"

He sighed. "You can play with all my other toys."

"Okay!"

Juliet sighed loudly. "Jonathan, can we go now?"

"What?" Gasman was too busy keeping Chris from putting wrapping paper in his mouth. "No, Julie."

Fang rolled his eyes, clearly not amused with her. "Want cake now, Neo?"

"Yes," Cody answered for him.

I smiled at them. "Fine. Cake now, boys."

Everyone else went into the kitchen, except for me, Mom, Tabitha, and Adeem.

"What time is your mom picking you up, Adeem?" I asked. "Or do I need to take you home?"

"She said at eight she'll come and get me," he said.

"Alright."

"Tabitha, I'm going out of town tomorrow," Mom said randomly. "I was wondering if you wanted to go with me."

"I can't," she said, looking down at Adeem's cell phone. He let her use his for texting, as there was no way I was buying my 11 year old a freaking phone. "Me and Adeem have plans."

"We do?"

She elbowed him. "You said that you got a new game for your xbox."

"So?"

"I wanna play it."

"Who said that I want you to play it?"

"I did."

He frowned. "Are you done with my phone yet?"

"No," she said, clicking her tongue. "Stop asking."

"I just asked once, Tabitha."

"Shut up before I stop talking to you again."

"Tabitha," mom said, frowning. "Don't be so rude."

"I'm not," she said.

"Don't talk back," I mumbled, though we all knew I always talked back.

"You talk back."

Told you.

"Yeah, well, I'm grown."

"Debatable."

I frowned at her. "Shut up, Tabitha. God, I liked it better when you were moping about Adeem."

He glanced at her. "You were moping about me?"

"No," she said, rolling her eyes "And did I not say to shut up?"

I've always heard that Muslim men treat their women bad. Consider that stereotype broken.


	7. Chapter 7

Broken

Chapter 7

I sighed. Everyone has gone home now except for Adeem and Alex, so I was now faced with talking to Fang. That didn't meant that I wouldn't try to weasel my way out of it, though.

"Tabitha and her boyfriend are upstairs…in her bedroom," I told him as he came into the bedroom, where I was waiting.

"Nice try. Already took care of it. Lucas is in there with them," he said, closing the door behind him. "Now why won't you have sex with me?"

"Blunt much?"

"Max."

I sighed. "I do want to have sex with you."

"Really?"

"No."

"What?"

I sat down on the bed. "I just don't like sex right now."

"Yeah, well I do. Remember when you liked it and I didn't? I still had sex with you."

"You liked it, stupid; you were just embarrassed about how much you sucked at it."

"What?"

I shook my head. "Fang, I'm just not...I don't…God, Fang, why does it matter?"

He came closer to me. "Is there something wrong with you?"

"What?"

"I mean, you normally are all over sex."

"I'm fine, Fang."

He looked worried. "Then is it me? Am I not good enough? Is that it?"

"No, Fang."

"Then what? Huh?"

"I have had how many kids? And where did they all come from? Sex. Sorry if sex isn't exactly the most appealing thing to me."

He frowned at me. "Max, seriously? Now, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, Fang. Is it that hard to believe that maybe, just maybe, I don't want to have sex?"

"Yes!"

Huffing, I crossed my arms. "Well, I don't think it is. Why do we have to have sex?"

"Because I like it."

"Yeah, well, I like drinking and that's not going on."

"Really, Max?" He looked at me in disbelief. "Is that really your argument?"

"Yes!"

"Fine," he said, going over to the dresser and grabbing his keys.

"Fang? Where are you going?"

He slammed the bedroom door behind him, not even telling me. If I was Cameron, this would be ring throwing time, but I wasn't her. I went ahead and took a shower.

* * *

><p>"Night, Sam," Damien whispered, kissing the side of the sleeping child's head. "I love you."<p>

He then went to feed Peter and Bubba. Patrick, who Cameron was now letting off the hook in favor of punishing Damien, was on the couch, his new sleeping place. Damien nodded at him before running back up the stairs. Cameron was in the bathroom, taking a shower, so he thought that if he hurried, got in bed and went to sleep, that she would just leave him alone. No such luck.

"Damien, get up."

He kept his eyes closed.

"Now, Damien."

"What?" He opened his eyes. "What do you want?"

"My cross and my ring."

He closed them again. "Well, the cross isn't yours anymore, so-"

"Yes. it is!"

"No, it's mine," he said. "I gave it to you because you said that you were my girl. My girl wouldn't throw her ring at my head and take off the cross I gave her. Samantha would never do that to me. She loves me, unlike you."

"What? You told me no."

"And? Last time I checked, Cameron, this is a marriage, not a dictatorship. So, sorry _Hitler_, but I can tell you no if I want to."

"Are you calling me a racist?"

He opened his eyes again. "Yes, Cameron. I'm glad that you were smart enough to get that."

"Damien-"

"I was calling you a dictator, Cam."

"Well, newsflash, this is very much so a dictatorship. Just because you suddenly found your manhood doesn't mean that you're going to over throw me, Damien."

He snorted. "Is that what I was trying to do? My mistake. I thought that I was just putting my foot down."

"Just give me my freaking ring, Damien. Fuck the cross!"

He sat up. "How dare you? Get out of my house."

She snorted, giving him an amused look. "Seriously?"

"Fine!" He jumped up. "I'm leaving then. I'm gonna stay with my mom! And I'm taking Samantha."

"Good," she said, her stomach sick. "I never liked the little brat anyways."

Damien was storming out of the room…when the leg of his superman sleep pants tripped him because they were too big and he refused to quit wearing them. He hit his lip on the dresser, busting it.

"Damien!" Cameron's anger quickly fled, like it always did when he got hurt. "Are you okay? Move your hands away from your face. Damien, seriously, let me see it. God, you busted your lip."

She went out of the room, leaving him on the floor. Damien got up, headed to the bathroom to get some toilet paper to put on the bleeding lip. He was standing in there when Cameron came back, a bag of ice in her hand.

"Here, Damien," she said, going over to him. "Let me see it. God."

He tried to take the ice from her, but she pushed his hand away, holding the ice to his lip herself.

"If someone else isn't beating you up, you do it yourself," she mused. "Did I not tell you to stop wearing those? You always trip in them. One day you're going to trip on the stairs, break your neck, die, and leave me a widow."

He moved to lean back against the sink. Cameron leaned up and gave him a kiss on the nose. So they stood there for ten minutes, her nursing his lip and giving him little kisses randomly. After the bleeding stopped and the swelling went down, she moved away, just staring at him carefully. Damien decided to be the first to speak.

"Cameron, I think that maybe-"

She cut him off by kissing him again, this time on the lips. It irritated the cut on his lip enough to make it bleed a little.

"Cameron!" He looked upset. "You got my blood on you. Here, hold on."

He grabbed some more bath tissue and wiped it off. He was going to say something else, but Cameron suddenly grabbed his hand, pulling them into the shower and turning it on.

Again, he yelled out her name. "Now our clothes are wet."

She just reached down and pulled his shirt over his head. She had left the stall door opened, so she threw it out before reaching for his sleeping pants.

"Cameron-"

"Shhh," she mumbled, pulling off her own shirt. "Come on, Damien."

Damien had never had sex in such a confined space before, especially not a shower. It was…amazing. He never wanted to have sex anywhere else. Being so close, not being able to get away from each other…it was wonderful. He felt immense sympathy for folks who suffered from claustrophobia. What a horrible thing…

* * *

><p>Fang didn't wake me up when he got home. I assumed that Adeem got home okay and Alex too, but that was only a guess. After I woke up and got dressed, I went into the kitchen. Lucas was staring at the fridge.<p>

"What?" I asked him.

"Can I drink this?" He pulled out a beer can. "It's soda, huh? Tyler said no."

"It's not," I said, frowning. "Fang, who brought beer into the house yesterday?"

He came out of the garage, Tabitha following behind him. That's what had woken me up, them tuning the drums.

"I did," he said, going over to Lucas and taking the can. He opened it, taking a sip. "For you."

I stared at him. "You're a bastard."

"That's a curse word," Tyler said from the table.

"No," Tabitha said, frowning at him.

"Come on, Max," he said, opening the fridge more to reveal a twenty-four pack of Bud Light. He pulled another out and tossed it to me. "That's what you wanted, right?"

I popped it open before walking over to him. After a moment's thought, I poured it over his head, crushing the can to be sure I got it all out.

"You little bitch," he raved, grabbing my arm as I tried to get away. He looked like he was going to hit me for a second before letting me go. I stormed out of the room.

"Now that's a curse word," I heard Tyler say.

"Were you gonna hit Mom?" Lucas asked him, but I didn't get to hear the response. I was already out of the house.

* * *

><p>"No," Fang said, shaking his head, watching as the beer dripped down the floor. "Of course not."<p>

"Looked like it," Tabitha said, unaffected by their fight. They always fought, they always cursed. It had been awhile since beer had been the subject of the argument, but she was sure it wouldn't be the last. "It's ten now. You have to take me to Adeem's."

James walked into the room. He saw the beer and giggled. "You're all wet, Fang."

"What happened, Daddy?" Cody asked, following behind his friend.

"Nothing," Fang said, walking out of the room. He went to his bedroom to change clothes. Damn Max, the little bitch. He fucking takes care of her and she pours a beer on his head? Maybe if they hadn't been so tense around each other recently, this wouldn't had been such a big deal, but they had been at each other's throat for the past week.

Chris, who had crawled into bed with Max around six that morning, yawned loudly as he woke up. "Mommy?"

"She's not here," Fang told him as he stripped down before going to the bathroom to grab a towel. "Hey, Chris? You wanna take a shower with Daddy?"

Chris giggled, getting out of the bed to go shower with Fang. Showering with Daddy was the best. He'd turn on the radio in the bedroom and play it loud enough so that they could hear it. After the shower and they were both dressed, Fang went into the living room.

"Where's Tabitha?" He asked Neo, who was sitting on the couch with Buzz in his lap, watching TV.

"Adeem's."

"Huh?"

"Adeem's mommy came and picked her up," Neo said. "I wish I had a mommy to pick Sam up."

Fang went and sat down next to the newly crowned four year old. "Did you have a good birthday, Neo?"

"Yes," the little boy told him. "Best birthday ever."

Fang smiled at him. "Yeah, it was huh?"

"Daddy asked me to go home with him again last night," Neo said, starting to toy with Buzz.

Fang's breath caught, his parental instinct kicking in. No one would ever take his children from him, except maybe Max in a divorce. Besides, that, no one. He had slowly come to see James, Neo, and Lance as his own. In a way, they were just like him. For one reason or another, their mother and father just weren't around. He felt a tight bond to them and no one was going to take that way.

"What did you say?"

Neo stared hard at his new toy. He really liked Toy Story and its successors. It was very nice of Dr. Martinez to buy Buzz for him. Whenever the boys played with toys, they always had to use Tyler's old one. Now, they had the new one and it was wonderful. Sure, they had only played with all their toys once since yesterday, but still.

"No," Neo said before looking up at Fang. "I wish that you were my daddy."

"Don't say things like that."

"I like Daddy, but he's not like you," Neo said, leaning against Fang. "And Juliet is mean to me."

"What does she do?"

"She's just mean. She don't like me and I don't like her."

Fang shook his head. "Tell Gazzy that, Neo. He's your dad. He won't be with someone if he knows that they're mean to you."

He just groaned. "Where's Max? Lucas said you fought."

"Shhh," Fang mumbled, running a hand down Neo's head. "It's alright. She just went to work, that's all."

"No fight?"

"No fight."

* * *

><p><strong>August<strong>

It's the 2nd, but Adeem's party is today, because his brother got into town today. Adeem declared that he was too old for a party, but Tabitha wanted him to do something. So he had a sleepover…without her. Sometimes, I think that he's just stupid. Other times, I think that he likes messing with his girlfriend's head.

"-and he didn't even want a party anyways," Tabitha went on. She wasn't talking to me, she was talking to Lucas, who wasn't at all interested. I heard her complaining as I walked into the living room. It was a mess, mainly because it was now Fang's bedroom. Did I forget to mention that? Yeah, Fang and I aren't sleeping in the same room now. He thought that not sleeping together was bad before…

"I don't care," Lucas finally told her. "Do you not see that I'm trying to do something?"

Lucas was standing over a sleeping Fang, who had taken up residency on the couch, watching his father intently. Placed on Fang's crotch was a single piece of ice. This could be interesting. I hurried to start a pot of coffee before going to sit in the chair to watch.

Fang opened his eyes slowly, giving Lucas time to go sit down next to some toys, looking like he was a good little boy. Yeah, okay. The ice had melted now, making a nice wet spot.

"Oh, God," he grumbled, getting up. He really thought that he peed himself.

"What happened?" Lucas asked in his normal innocent voice. Then he gasped. "You peed on yourself."

"Getting old, Fang?"

"Shut the hell up, Max," he ordered, rushing to our bedroom. I smiled at Lucas, watching as he laughed at his successful prank.

"That was naughty," I told him, holding down my own giggles. This joke would not break Tabitha's anger, however.

"Not to mention, he said that we would hang out today. Not now though," she went on. "His party is today, after all. I don't even get cake! Then he had the nerve to ask me if I got him a present. I hate him!"

I groaned, getting up. "Lucas, go upstairs and ask the other boys who wants to go to with me."

"Can I go?"

"Sure," I said as he ran off up the stairs. Chris, who was playing with blocks on the floor, reach up for me. I picked him up.

"Go?" He asked me.

"No, I need you to stay here and make sure Tabitha has someone to complain to."

He giggled, nodding his head. "Okay."

"Okay," I mimicked, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, Christopher."

He frowned. He didn't like his full name. Honestly, neither did I. When he was born, I told Fang that we were naming his Chris. Fang said that you can't just name a kid Chris, he has to have something more. Like you can't name a kid Rob or Nick. It just wasn't right. Whatever.

In the end, I got Neo and Lance to come with me. Neo only wanted to go in hopes that Sam would stop by and Lance was going to get away from Jason, who had formed a sudden obsession with being very mean to the younger boy. I think that's how it goes though. Tyler's mean to Lucas, who's mean to Cody, who's mean to Neo, who's mean to Jason, who's mean to Lance. Notice that James was kept out of that. Another reason he's my favorite.

"I miss Daddy," Neo told me. Gasman had left yesterday and Neo had thrown a big fit. Juliet, who was completely uninterested, acted like a bitch about it. What else is new?

"I know, Neo," I sighed. "You just…he'll be back. It'll be okay."

"Yeah," Neo said. "He's not Lance's daddy."

Lance banged his hands on his car seat. "No! Mean. Wanna go back home, Max. Make Neo go."

"Don't talk about Lance's daddy, okay Neo? It's not nice. He doesn't talk about your mommy."

Lance sneezed, getting snot everywhere, which was fun to wipe off once I got the store. Why are little kids so freaking messy? I don't get it.

* * *

><p>"What's wrong with you?" Cameron asked Damien, watching him take a few pills. "Sick?"<p>

He shook his head, swallowing them with water. "Just a headache."

"You and your illnesses."

He smiled when she came over and felt his head. "Cammie, I just told you that I'm not sick."

"I was just checking," she defended. "Where's Samantha?"

He nodded his head towards the pantry. "Hiding."

"From who?"

"I'm not sure. I think Bubba."

"Why?" Cameron asked, worried. "Did he growl at her?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "He's been drooling recently and likes to lay his head on her."

Frowning, Cameron walked out of the room and into the living room. Peter was curled up on the couch, sleeping. Smiling, she went to sit down next to him. Honestly, before she met Damien, she had never had any form of contact with cats. They shed, tore up furniture, and everyone seemed to be under the impression that they were evil. Now that she had one though, she preferred it to any other pet.

Sighing, Cameron turned on the TV. Her father had left a week ago, randomly and with out any apparent reason. It didn't matter. It was better that way. Damien was clearly ill at ease with Patrick around and Samantha had no use for him. Cameron was used to be disappearing at random and was no longer affected by it. He was a leaver, she was stayer, and Paul was a grudge holder. That's what her blood was now, she just had to focus more on her new blood, the one that she had with Damien. As bad, ignorant, rude, disrespectful, stereotypical as that was, at least they cared…to a point. That's all she ever really wanted.

* * *

><p>Some people define a problem marriage as infidelity. Others as having no money. Tabitha, as usual, defined it differently.<p>

"How about the time she poured beer on him? Or when he had a girlfriend? Now they don't even sleep in the same room!"

Tabitha waved her brother off. "Tyler, shut up. You don't even know what you're talking about."

"Yes, I do."

"Please, you haven't even kissed a girl yet."

"You don't know that," he said, trying to come off as mysterious, but sounding more embarrassed.

"If you're going to bore me, do it with something else." She had her dad's laptop, going through Adeem's facebook. Max wouldn't let her have one. She wouldn't let her do anything.

"I just think that they're not doing good."

"And what if they aren't?" Tabitha looked up at him. "There ain't nothing you can do about it. Now go away."

"Tabitha-"

"Besides, they're fine," she said, rolling her eyes. "Think about it, Tyler. When they're nice to each other, that's when all the bad stuff happens. When Dad moved out that time, they had been happy right before. Or when they wouldn't talk to each other because she was pregnant with Jason, they were happy before that. When they're fighting, it's just better. Now go away."

"What are you doing anyways?"

"None of your business," she said, closing the laptop. "Do you want something else or what?"

He stood up a little straighter. "I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"How come you didn't make Adeem invite me to his party?"

She frowned. "Do you want to go?"

"No."

"Then what's the problem?"

Again, his voice came out embarrassed. "It's just…you always make people nice to me."

"Look, do you want to go?"

"No."

"Then shut up."

He frowned, now mad that she was just dismissing him. "I know why you didn't get me invited. _You_ couldn't even get invited."

She almost hit him, but he was out of the room before she had the chance. The coward…

* * *

><p>I was sleeping on the job, as usual, when someone that at least peaked my interest came in. Neo was the one that tipped me off of her arrival.<p>

"Hi, Tammie."

I lifted up my head in time to see her hug him. Lance, who was on the floor behind me, sounded off with his own greeting.

"Hell-toes."

"Hello," I told him, frowning. Then I looked back at Tammie. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see my son."

"Stretch of a word, but you're used to stretching." Ha! That could be used because she's a slut or because she's fat. Anyways… "Besides, he's not here. He's at home."

She snorted. "Whatever. Is Damien around?"

"Am I your brother's keeper?"

"Watch it, Max, you're getting closer and closer to religious everyday."

"And you closer and closer to death by obesity, but whatever."

"I've about had enough of you."

I gave her a confused look. "About? When was it that we could ever stand each other?"

There was a time, we both knew that. I'm not sure when that dam between us broke, but it did. Just like me and Cameron's inevitable friendship, some things are just fate. You don't mess with what's written in the stars.

As always, I won and she left without another word. Neo walked behind the counter and just stared at me.

"What, Neo?"

"Why were you mean to her?" He asked me, coming to stand at my side. "Thought you were supposed to be nice? Remember? No be a bully."

"Neo, some things are just different," I said. "Me and Tammie…there is no bully and victim, alright? Now shush. I'm calling Fang."

"What?" My husband answered his phone.

"No I love you?"

"What, Max?"

"Tammie'll be there soon."

"What?" He seemed shocked. "She's here?"

"Yep," I said. "Just stopped by."

"And she's coming here?"

"I can assume so," I said. "But you know what they say about that word."

"Max."

"Just get James ready. There's going to be a lot of tears, you know."

"Trust me, I know."

* * *

><p>James was confused. It didn't make sense in his brain. How could this happen? How?<p>

"No!"

Fang was in shock when he walked into James and Cody's bedroom. Why was James already upset? He hadn't even told him yet!

"What's wrong?" Fang asked, looking at the boy.

"I broke it," he said with tears welling up in his eyes. He held up a yoyo to Fang. "Can you fix it, Fang?"

Fang sighed, taking it from him. "James, not now, alright? I need to talk to you about something."

"But can you fix it?"

"Yes, later."

Happy, James put the two halves on his bed. "Okay, what?"

"Your mom is going to be here soon."

James stared at Fang for a second. "Where's Max?"

"Why?"

"I'mma tell her that you're being mean to me! You're not funny," he said, crossing his arms. "I don't like you anymore."

Sighing, Fang said, "I'm not trying to be mean, James. She seriously is about to be here."

"Why?" James asked, going over to his toy chest. He pulled out his Angel from the X-Men toy. Angel was his favorite toy. He made him feel safe. "I don't wanna see her."

"I know, James, but sometimes you got to do things you don't like to."

He looked up at his father figure. "What do you do that you don't like to?"

"Well, I sleep on the couch so that Max won't fight with me."

"That's nice," James said. "But not the same thing."

Fang shook his head as the doorbell rang.

"I got it!" Lucas yelled as his footsteps echoed through out the house as he raced down the stairs. He was the best runner, after all. He was just amazing like that.

"Come on," Fang said, putting his arm around James's shoulder. "Let's go see Tammie."

* * *

><p>"How did it go?"<p>

It was late, around eleven. Fang was in the bathroom, getting ready for bed…or couch. Hehe. I had just got home and was in bed.

"What?"

"James and Tammie, Fang."

He shrugged. Our communication was getting hard to preserve. We were mad at each other and both sexually inactive. Never a good combination for the two of us. Those ten months that we weren't having sex at least we were happy with each other. Now though, we were just waiting on a time bomb.

"Fang."

"What do you want me to say?" He put the cap back on the toothpaste. "James got really upset and she left. What else is new?"

He walked out of the bathroom and started for the door. I sighed.

"Fang, don't hate me."

"I find it hard."

I made a face at his back. "Don't you love me?"

"I've told you before-"

"I'm done with that indifference bullshit."

He shook his head, not removing his hand, which was rested on the doorknob. "Max, I'm tired. I can't do this right now."

"And? Fang, I don't want the kids to think that there's something wrong with us."

"But there is, Max!" He finally turned to face me. "We have wings, we take in other people's kids, we have a bunch of our own kids, I have anger issues, and you like to drink. There's something wrong with us."

"Oh, like you're some sort of big expert on wrong now." I scoffed at him. "You probably have been fucking some other woman-"

"What is wrong with you?" He got mad at me. "How much time has to pass before we move on from that?"

I laid on my stomach, facing my pillow, not saying another word. Once Fang realized I wasn't going to speak, he groaned loudly and opened the door. Then he closed it, only he hadn't walked out of it. He walked over to the bed and got into it with me.

"I know that you're mad at me, but listen. We're good people, for the most part. We're just going through a rough patch. Everyone goes through those," he said. "For better or for worse, Max."

Still, I said nothing. Fang started to get out of the bed, but yet again, he stopped, Then he did something that brought me back a year or two. He put his mouth to my ear and started kissing it.

"God, you're a creep," I laughed. It tickled horribly and just made me feel good. "Stop it."

He wrapped his arms around me, giving my head a big kiss. "I love you, Max Shadows. So much."

I settled into his arms, trying to hide my smile. It was hard though. As much as I wanted to still be mad at him, I couldn't. He was just too dang cute.

"I love you more, Fang Ride."

He pushed me away, playfully, before going back at my ear. This is what I live for, us like this. Sometimes I'm glad we fight. It just makes times like this so much more important.

* * *

><p>The next day, Tabitha was shocked when Adeem called her. He told her that his brother was going to pick her up and take them out to eat for his birthday lunch. At first, she played around with him and said no, but she caved after some begging.<p>

"Hi, Tabby," he said as she opened the door when he knocked. He always came to the door, because, according to her rules that she gave him, just honking is rude. Shocking her, he gave her a hug.

Besides those kisses they shared, they weren't really very touchy feely with each other. Not like those other kids at school. The closest to PDA they usually got was when he fell asleep on her shoulder during an extra long, boring assembly at school. Though, it was to be noted, they stayed together way longer than those girls at school that are all over their boyfriends.

She pushed him off before walking out of the house. "Don't hug me."

"Don't hug me," he mocked, just to be a bratty. "Like my new hat?"

"No."

He ignored that. "I got it from Jerry for my birthday. Where's my gift from you?"

"I'll give it to you as soon as you win over my forgiveness."

He sighed. "Is this about that text I sent Jenna?"

"No, I'm mostly over that," she said, getting into his brother's car. "This is about having a sleepover. First off, everyone knows that boys can't have sleepovers."

"Why not?" He asked, getting into the backseat with her.

"That makes them gay."

"I'm not gay."

"If you're sure."

"Hello, Tabitha," Rashad said from the front seat. He was in surprise when Adeem said that he wanted to bring Tabitha along on their outing. He thought that it would be more of a brothers thing. Then he remembered how demanding Tabitha was.

"Hi," she said, smiling at him.

"Rashad, tell Tabitha all the wonderful things I said about her last night," Adeem prompted.

"Which were those again?"

"Um…when we had cake I said that I would save her a piece."

"Did you?" Tabitha asked.

"Well…it's the thought that counts, right?"

Not really. "No."

He sighed loudly. "Well, I get hungry sometimes, okay?"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Oh, you did say that one thing," Rashad began. "Remember? When that one fat, odd boy said that his girlfriend had the best…what was it? Uh…boobs. You sure did defend-"

"Why would you talk about me like that?" She hit him. She wasn't sure if talking about her boobs was in her rules, but it sure would be added.

"I thought we said no more hitting?" He frowned at her. "Besides, I could always go back and change my answer."

She stared at him evenly. "I sure hope Tyler likes his gift."

"Huh?"

"You know, the one that I was going to give to you."

"What did you want me to do?" He laid his head against the window. "Not like you really have any anyways."

That got him another hit. Rashad shook his head from the front seat. His brother had poor tastes. He was still young though, he could be morphed into looking for better. Anything's better than hitting, after all. Rashad would never stand for someone hitting him.

"Would you stop that?"

"No! Why are you looking at my…chest?" She was embarrassed to the fullest degree. It was bad enough that she was having to fight with Adeem about it, but it being in front of his brother was over kill.

"I have to look at something," Adeem said. "I mean, it's not like your face is-"

"I would stop before I have to take you to the emergency room," Rashad instructed. He had only meant to tease his brother, not cause him pain. "I'm sure you two can talk about something else now."

"I'm never talking to you again," Tabitha said, crossing her arms. Then she felt how weird her arms felt, against her relatively flat chest. She was as big as some of the girls in her class, but she by far wasn't the biggest. She had never really thought much about it and didn't know that other people did. They were only just going into 6th grade, after all. That stuff was, like, 7th grade level, right? Right?


	8. Chapter 8

Broken

Chapter 8

**October**

The months passed slowly. Sam started Kindergarten, Damien freaked out, James cried at his birthday party because he missed his mom, Adeem and Tabitha have had a million fights, and Tyler has decided that he wants to be a scientist when he grows up. It should now be noted that he isn't good in science, reading, or math. P.E. is really the best thing he does. Speaking of Tyler, Alex's brother, Manuel, was supposed to come home back in August. Change of plans and now he was stuck down there until January. Tyler seemed somewhat happy about it. When I asked him why, he said something about getting beat up…?

Anyways, it's October, which makes all the kids excited. Even Tabitha and Adeem. Though they refused to do anything for Halloween, not even go to this party that some girl they knew was having, they were very excited about the movies on TV. Fang was finally letting Tabitha watch horror films and Adeem's mom said that she didn't mind if he watched them, he had forever. So, October was the best month for them.

For me though, October wasn't all the great. We have too many kids to buy them costumes, so we were making them make their own, just like last year. Only this year, Neo had decided that wasn't fair. Apparently, on one of his weekly phone calls to Gasman, he had expressed this to his father. Deciding to be a good dad for once, Gasman sent him a package. Inside?

"I'mma be a Power Ranger!"

God, why me?

"I wanna be something," James complained. "Max."

"My daddy just loves me more," Neo taunted, holding up the red ranger suit.

Jason looked up at Fang. "No love me?"

I sighed. "Neo, I told you that you guys were going to make your own-"

"Daddy said I didn't have to," Neo told me, smiling. "I love my daddy."

Fang just shrugged. "Max, it's not really his fault, is it?"

I shook my head. "Fine, Fang, you explain why the other boys can't have a costume."

"Max-"

"No, go ahead," I said, walking out of the room. "Have fun with it."

* * *

><p>Tabitha and Adeem were on her bed, watching TV. Yes, finally she had gotten a TV in her bedroom. It was only fair that Tyler got one too, though, so it was a little less special, but still very cool. To Tabitha at least. Adeem thought that it was just due time that she got one.<p>

At the moment, they were watching the first Scream. Adeem had already seen it, so he kept talking through it.

"Yeah, so he said that if I wait a little longer, he'll-"

"Shut up, Adeem," she said, elbowing him. It was the part where the cameraman got killed and she was very interested. "I don't care about what your brother said."

He frowned as he laid down. "You can get really bitchy sometimes, you know."

"Are you calling me a bitch? That's against the rules."

"I didn't," he said. Recently, Tabitha's rules were growing at an alarming rate. Pretty soon, all that would be left to talk about would be her life and her problems. Gag. "Hey, Tabby?"

"What?" She asked, moving to lay next to him.

Because they were watching movies that might scare the younger kids, Max let them close the door. That was a good thing, because Fang didn't like them to lay next to each other. Her dad was so weird. So was Max. They weren't that bad though, in comparison to some kids' parents. Like this girl she knew, Kat. Her mom had already bought her a pack of condoms. Max might mention something embarrassing, but she wasn't _that_ bad. Besides, Tabitha wasn't even sure where you would put a condom yet and she planned to keep it that way.

He blew air in her face instead of answering. Tabitha pushed his head, trying not to laugh.

"Stop it, Adeem."

He just kept at it, making her miss her movie. If she were on her deathbed, however, she would have to admit that playing around with him was way better than some stupid slasher film.

* * *

><p>Fang yawned, cuddling against me. I pushed him away.<p>

"Stop it, Fang," I mumbled. "Don't you see I'm sleeping?"

"Well, I have to go get into work," Fang said. It was around ten and Saturday. I groaned.

"So I have to get up and watch the kids?"

"Yep," he said, giving me a kiss on the head. "Come on, Max."

I looked at him with sad eyes. "Can you carry me to the couch?"

He groaned, getting up. "No, Max, I can't."

"You suck," I complained, getting up. "I would have carried you."

"Oh? Would you have?"

"Yep."

Grumbling, he went and lifted me up. "Better?"

I smiled, leaning against him. "To the couch, Fang."

"Of course," he said dryly.

"Hu't?" Jason asked as Fang made Chris get off the couch so that he could lay me down.

"No," Fang said. "Mommy's just lazy."

"Dang right," I said, reaching for the remote. "Cody, bring me a blanket."

Fang shook his head, giving me a kiss on the head. "I'm going to go now. Who wants to go with me?"

"Me!" Neo yelled, looking at me angrily. "At least you let me be a Ranger."

"Me," Jason said, wrapping his arms around Fang's leg.

"Me," Lance said, more just to have his voice heard.

I frowned. "James? Will you at least stay with me?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"And you, Cody?"

He nodded, curling up in the chair. "I'm gonna take a nap."

I just rolled my eyes. Fang smiled, giving me another kiss on the head. "Where's Chris?"

"Upstairs with Tyler, I think."

"What? Why?"

"Tyler and Alex have a project due over the human body. They're tracing him on the poster board."

He sighed, going to put on his shoes. "Alright, whoever's going with me needs to get ready. Now."

After they were all gone, I went to sleep. What? I'm tired.

* * *

><p>Damien yawned, opening his eyes. When he got home from work that day, he had immediately gone to sleep. Now though, something had woken him up.<p>

"Daddy?"

He yawned. "What, Sammy?"

She cuddled against his side. "Mommy said I need to do my homework today."

"Let's do it tomorrow, after church."

"She said now," Sam told him. "Help me, please?"

"What's it about?" He groaned. Samantha sat a piece of paper on his chest. "Sam, you know your ABC's."

"No."

"Come on," he sighed, sitting up. He pointed to a letter on the page. "What comes after the letter L, Sam?"

"J?"

"No."

"K?"

"No."

"Um…N?"

"Close."

"M."

"Very good," he said, giving her a kiss before laying back down. "Now do the rest."

"Daddy."

"Sam, I'm tired. I just got off of work and-"

"Mommy says that all you do is draw all day."

"Yeah, well, as soon as drawing stops paying her bills, I'll listen to her."

"Bet Neo would help."

"Neo doesn't know anymore than you do."

"That's what you think."

"Oh, whatever," he said, shaking his head. "Sam, you think I should stop shaving?"

"And get a beard?"

"Uh-huh."

"Yes!"

"Alright then," he said. "It's settled."

"No, it's not," Cameron said, coming into the room. "I hate beards. And are you guys doing her homework?"

Damien groaned. "Cammie, we've got the rest of today and all of tomorrow."

"So? I said now."

Sam frowned. "Mom?"

Cameron had told her to stop calling her Mommy a few days ago. She said that she was a big girl now and to grow up. Damien and Cameron had fought about it at first, but now it was okay. She'd just call her Mommy when she was alone.

"What?" Cameron asked, sounding annoyed.

"I love you."

"Shut up," Cameron said, closing the bathroom door behind her.

Used to that, Sam just looked at her father. He gave her a kiss.

"I love you too," he said, as if she had been talking to him the whole time. "Now, let's go ahead and do your homework so Mommy doesn't get mad."

"Yeah," she agreed, giggling. Who needed Mommy anyways?

* * *

><p>At some point, Adeem and Tabitha ended up on her floor, wrestling. Not nasty, 'let's call it wrestling' stuff Max and Fang did. Real, all out, wrestling. It was really just grappling, as Adeem would never actually hit his girlfriend.<p>

Anyways, he was over her, holding her down, when Tyler walked in.

"I'm telling," he immediately said. Then he grabbed Adeem's shirt and pulled him off his sister. "I am so telling. And then I'm going to rip your throat out, Adeem! I don't know what you stupid Muslims do, but that-"

"Shut up," Tabitha said, getting up. It was funny to note how much taller Adeem was than her twin, though he still thought he could take the boy. "We were wrestling, Tyler."

"Oh, right, whatever."

Adeem frowned. "What'd you want, anyways? We're busy."

"Get busy with my sister again and I'll beat you up."

Tabitha sighed. "What did you want?"

"Me and Alex need scissors."

"Alex and I."

Tyler frowned. "What about the two of you?"

"Never mind," Tabitha said as she went to go get them for him. "Now go away."

"Not if you two are going to do that again," Tyler said, crossing his arms. Adeem, already bored with it all, laid back down on Tabitha's bed.

"Tyler, just go."

"I'll be back," he warned in his best Terminator voice. After he was gone, Tabitha laid back down next to Adeem.

"Now what?" He asked.

"Want to go play with Tank?"

"No."

"My drums?"

"No."

"Then what? There is nothing else."

He rolled onto his stomach. "You know your friend Kat?"

"She's not my friend, but yeah."

"Jared said that they had…you know."

"No…what?"

"Sex, Tabitha."

She blushed just from the word. "That's nasty."

"Not really."

"Yes, it is Adeem." What 6th grader had sex? Tabitha wasn't even completely sure how you had sex. Thinking about it just made her stomach hurt and Adeem being the one who brought it up made it worse. "Can we talk about something else?"

He shrugged. "I was thinking yesterday."

This ought to be good.

"About what?" She asked, glad that the subject had changed.

"That fight that me and my dad had."

She looked at him. "About that thing you said? About not wanting to be Muslim?"

"Yeah," he said. "How come he can tell me what to do? I'm smarter than him."

That's what she had been saying forever. "My dad makes me be Christian. No big deal. Just pretend to listen."

"It is a big deal, Tabitha," he said. "You've got it easy with your religion."

"What?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head slightly. "You don't have people that make fun of you or make assumptions about you."

"Yes, I do. Everyone thinks that Christians are fake."

"So? That's nothing in comparison to be called a terrorist for no reason," Adeem said. "If even I'm not Muslim, I'll still get called names just for being Arab."

"I don't call you names," she said.

"Of course you don't, you're my friend," he told her. "But people that don't know me, they act like they do just because of something a few people did. It's not fair. I want to be something else. Something that I don't get called names for."

"Like what?" She asked, yawning a little. Not because she was bored, but because she was tired. "White?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Whites are the ones that cause all the issues."

"Hey!"

"What? They are," he said with conviction. "Not all, but most. The black kids don't call me a terrorist, the Mexican kids don't call me a terrorist, and neither does that one kid from China. All the white kids though, they do."

"Quit saying all."

"Sorry," he sighed. "I just…Sometimes I think that Allah did this to us on purpose. He makes it so hard."

She knew all about that. "I don't think that you're something just because you're Arab. I don't think that Mexican's are anything because of what they are. Or whites or anyone. People are what they are because of the things they choose. They don't decide for you what you are. Only you can do that."

He smiled, hiding it in her pillow. "You're so smart, Tabitha."

"Yeah. I know."

They both laughed. Then she pushed him off the bed and onto the floor. The pair resumed their wrestling match, not even caring if Tyler came in. They hadn't even mastered kissing yet. Kat could keep her disgustingness. They were perfectly fine with just good, old fashioned wrestling.

* * *

><p>The next day was Sunday and I was supposed to go to work.<p>

I groaned. "Fang, I don't feel good."

"Yes, you do," he said, not even opening his eyes. "You just don't want to go to work."

"I'm tired."

"Go, Max. I went yesterday."

"Yeah, later than me."

"Go to work and just sleep there like you always do."

He had a point… "Fine, but you get up and get Tyler ready for church."

"Max-"

"No," I said, going to get in the shower. After I was done, I went to see who was up. Only Tyler.

"Dan's picking you up?" I asked as he stood in the bathroom, gelling his hair.

"Max, leave," he complained. "I'm in the bathroom."

"You're messing with your hair."

"So?"

"Shut the door if you don't want someone to see you," I told him. "Duh."

He frowned. "Is Adeem coming over again?"

"I don't know, Tyler."

"Well, he and Tabitha shouldn't be alone together anymore."

"Why not?" I asked, now somewhat interested.

He finished with his hair and put the gel away. "I don't know."

"Sure you do. Now why?"

"I don't know, Max!"

I frowned at him, biting my lip a little. "Well, I'm going into work now. You be good at church, alright?"

He nodded his head. "I'm always good, Max."

"Can I get a hug before I go?"

He just snorted. "No."

So I gave him kiss on the head, just to make him mad. Ha, I win.

* * *

><p>Chris cuddled against his father. "Breakfast?"<p>

Fang groaned. "What time is it?"

As he didn't know this, or really anything else, Chris just moaned. Fang stretched a little, yawning.

"Alright, come on then," Fang said, getting up. He pulled on some clothes before starting for the door. "You coming, Chris?"

The toddler had already curled up in his mother's spot, going back to sleep, knowing that his daddy would wake him up when the food was done. Fang shook his head before leaving, closing the door softly behind him.

"Hi, Fang," James greeted as Fang came into the living room. "Breakfast time?"

"Yeah," Fang said, walking into the kitchen. "What are you already doing up?"

James cuddled into the couch. "I had a bad dream and Max wasn't home, so I just stayed in here."

Fang frowned, going to get eggs out of the fridge. "Why didn't you just wake me up?"

James moaned. "You would just yell at me."

"No, I wouldn't."

"Yes, you would."

No, he wouldn't. Would he? Fang shook his head. "Wanna come help me make breakfast?"

"No."

"Fine," Fang sighed. "I'll make it myself. Go wake up the other kids, then. And tell Tabitha that Dr. Martinez will be here at eleven to take her to Adeem's."

James ran off to do that. Fang was starting to make breakfast when he felt something rub against his leg.

"Hey, Snickers," he sighed, glancing down at the cat. She didn't seem to like his wife none, but the cat really liked Fang. Fox was the opposite. He liked Max more. "Max isn't home, so I'm sure you're happy. You better go hide though, the kids are getting up right now."

The cat meowed before moving away. Fang went back to what he was doing. It wasn't a second later that something ran into his leg. Again, he looked down.

"Neo? What are you doing?"

Neo head butted him again. Fang moved his leg the third time he tried.

"What is your problem?" He asked, irritated.

"I had a dream."

"Thank you, Dr. King. So what?"

Neo glared at the man. "You said bad things to me."

"Huh?"

"In the dream. Said I was dumb and smelly."

Fang sighed. "It was dream, Neo. That means that it didn't happen."

He frowned. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Never mind."

Sometimes he hated his life.

* * *

><p>What is a dope nose? I was just wondering. I was looking for something in the office and came across one of Luther's CDs. I put it in and the first track was Weezer, his favorite. I kind of wish that he was here to ask, but then again, I don't. Things were different now that he and Bone are gone, but I'm not going to say that they aren't better. I mean, sure, I love the two of them, but I don't know how it would be to have them back. And they might try to take my boys away. No way was I ever letting that happen.<p>

"Hi, Max."

I looked up. "Hi, Samantha."

She walked in with Cameron. Giggling, Samantha asked, "Is Neo here?"

"No, sweetie."

"Sure?"

"Very," I said. "Did you go to church this morning?"

She giggled. "No. Stayed home with Mommy."

"Stop calling me that," Cameron said, frowning down at her.

"Cameron," I said in shock.

"What? I think that she's too old to call me mommy."

"You know that she's not."

"Whatever, Max," she said, now turning her frown onto me. "I need Damien's order."

I sighed, going to get it. When I got back, Samantha was pouting. I think that Cameron had got onto her about calling her mommy. Though I wanted to say something, I knew it wasn't my place, so I didn't.

"This all?" I asked her, ringing her up.

"Yeah," Cameron said, reaching up to slide her white sunglasses back over her eyes. I knew she was doing that to show me that she was irritated with me and didn't want to talk anymore. Whatever. She takes everything out on Samantha. It isn't fair.

"I want Daddy," Sam complained.

"Just be quiet," Cameron said, exasperated. She paid before leaving. Sometimes I feel so bad for Samantha. We have nine children in our house and they have to feel more loved than Samantha. It's just sorry.

* * *

><p>When Tyler got home, his sister wasn't there.<p>

"Where's Tabitha?" He asked his father, a weird question for him to ask. Tyler never seemed to care for any of his brothers or housemates, much less his only blood sibling.

"At Adeem's," Fang said, not looking away from the TV. Tyler closed the front door.

"I ate lunch."

"Good for you."

Lance, who was napping in Fang's lap, started moving in his sleep. Fang leaned down and gave him a kiss, helping the toddler to settle out.

"You know what they're doing, right?"

"On the show? Yeah. Solving a murder."

"No, Tabitha and Adeem."

His interest was suddenly peaked. "What are they doing?"

"I'm not sure," Tyler admitted. "They're kissing and stuff though."

"How do you know?"

"Well…I know that they did once," he said. "And the other day, I went in there and they were wrestling."

"So?"

"Wrestling, Dad. You know-"

"What?" Fang jumped up, making Lance upset.

"Yeah, like WWE!"

And he sat back down, sighing. "Tyler, go away."

Lance whined. "Waked me up!"

"Shhh," Fang soothed, holding him to him. "Shhh."

"Are you even listening? What if he hits her?"

"He won't."

"How do you know?"

"Tyler, I trust him more not to hit her than I do you, and that's saying something."

Stomping away, Tyler yelled out that he hated them all. Lance cuddled against Fang.

"Seepy," he told him, closing his eyes.

Fang leaned down and kiss Lance again. The other day, he went to a HeroClix tournament and one of the guys that went there called him soft, kissing his kids. The guy had a daughter and never even told her that he loved her. Fang couldn't imagine not telling his kids that he loved him or giving them kisses. He loved his boys and Tabitha. Why wouldn't he show it?

* * *

><p><strong>Halloween<strong>

I got a horrible stomach virus the day of Halloween, screwing everything up. Fang was mad at me, I could tell.

"Fang," I called out. "Tyler! Someone?"

"What's wrong?" Fang asked in a gruff voice, coming into the room. "Did you throw up or something?"

"No," I said, holding my stomach. "I'm thirsty."

He sighed. "Could have told me that before I got in here, Max."

"Don't yell," I whined, making my head hurt. "Please don't."

Momentarily, I was able to get his anger to wane. "I'm sorry, baby. What do you want to drink, huh? A Pepsi?"

I shook my head. "Water."

"Sure," he said before walking out of the room. When he came back, he handed me the cup, giving me a kiss on the head. "Are you okay now?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah."

"Alright then," he said before walking out of the room. I was watching TV for awhile when someone walked into the room.

"Max?"

I sighed. "What, Tabitha?"

"Dad said that he's taking me to Adeem's. Dr. Martinez is here if you need anything."

"Alright. Have fun," I told her. "And remember, tomorrow's a school day. Finish all your homework over there, alright?"

"Okay," she said. "He wanted me to ask you if you needed anything before we left."

"No," I said. "Who's taking all the kids?"

"Tyler's at Alex's, Damien's taking Neo, James, and Cody. Dad said that he has Chris and Lance and Dr. Martinez is taking Jason."

"Where's Lucas?" I asked, frowning.

"Oh, he went to some boy's house," she told me.

"Danny?"

"Max, Danny moved, remember?"

"No."

She shrugged before closing the door and leaving. I faintly remember something about Danny moving…I think that Ari and Danny's parents got divorced. Ari still lives here, I know that. She just doesn't like Lucas anymore. That's just why I thought Danny stopped coming by. You learn something new everyday.

* * *

><p>Adeem and Tabitha were in his living room, watching the original Black Christmas, because everyone knows that remakes suck. She was on the couch, half watching, half doing her math homework. He was seated with his back against the front of the couch, engrossed in the movie.<p>

"Adeem? Can I see your phone?"

He absently reached into his pocket and pulled it out. "Here."

"Thanks," she said, taking it from him. "Hey, what time is it?"

"I don't know," he said, still focused the movie. "Look on my phone."

She sighed. She really just wanted him to pay attention to her. This movie kind of bored her. It wasn't as much a horror movie, but a cross between thriller and slasher. Those weren't nearly as interesting. Tabitha moved to lay down, her hand on his head.

"Stop it," he complained, pushing her hand away.

"Can't we watch…Shaun White?"

"Later," he said, not even noticing the name she had dropped. She sighed, going ahead and waiting for the stupid movie to end. After it was over, they put in Nightmare on Elm St, which they had both seen. Now he would talk to her.

"Wanna sit up here with me?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Why? Need help with your math?"

Adeem rocked at math. She frowned at him. "No. I just wanted you up here."

"I like it on the floor."

"Whatever."

He got up and went into the kitchen. It was an open kitchen that ran right into the living room, the back of the couch facing it. He opened the fridge and pulled out two cokes. Chuckling softly to himself, he snuck up behind Tabitha and laid the cold coke against her neck. She shot up, causing her math book to fall.

"Stop it," she said, pushing the laughing boy away. "That's not funny!"

He kept laughing all the way to the door, as the doorbell had rung. As he opened it, he said, "We don't have any candy."

"I'm not here for that."

Tabitha sat up as her brother pushed pasted Adeem.

"I'm here for my sister," Tyler said. "Come on, Tabitha."

"What?"

"It's time to go," he said. She sighed, getting up.

"I thought Dad said that I could stay until-"

"He said now," Tyler said, shrugging. Adeem handed Tabitha the coke he had gotten for her as she gathered her things.

"Bye, Tabby," he said before going over to the couch.

"Leaving?" His mother asked, coming into the room. Tabitha liked Mrs. Saad. She was nice.

"Yeah," Tabitha said, following her brother out. "Why did he pick me up early?"

"Max was feeling really bad and he said that he wasn't coming back out, so he had to get us all now."

They got into Luther's Explorer. Lucas was the only one in there.

"Where's the other boys?" Tabitha asked, sitting in the front seat.

"Home," Fang said, frowning. They rode in silence, no music, no nothing, not even Lucas talking. It was weird. Fang seemed really mad about something. When they got home, he didn't even say hi back to the boys, who were on the floor, going through their candy.

"Hi, Tabitha," Dr. Martinez said.

"What's wrong with Max?" She asked.

"Nothing, sweetie," she said, getting up. "She's just sick. I'm going to tell your father that I'm leaving and then I'm gone, okay? Feed the dog for your parents, will you?"

She nodded before looking at the boys. They were all trading candy and their faces were covered in chocolate, their hands sticky.

"You guys look nasty," she observed with evident distaste.

"You're nasty," Lucas said as he joined the mess, dumping his own bag on the ground. She just shook her head before going to feed Tank.

* * *

><p>"How are you?" Fang asked, coming into the room. I opened my eyes a little.<p>

"Sick."

He felt my head. "You still have a fever."

I was too sick to make a comeback. He just gave me a kiss on the head. "Go back to sleep, Max."

"What about…Did you…the kids?"

"They're fine," he said, covering me over. "You worry about you."

"Oh, now you care?"

He just frowned. "I heard what you told your mother."

"What?

"That I didn't give a shit," he said, sounding slightly mad at me.

"You don't," I mumbled, closing my eyes again. "When I woke up last night you…God, Fang, later, okay?"

"What? I what?"

"You got a fucking attitude with me."

"Yeah, because you threw up and wouldn't let me do anything to help you!" He was yelling at me. Yelling.

There was a knock at the door.

"What?" He asked in a gruff tone.

"I'm leaving. Will you guys be alright?"

Mom. I tried to roll my eyes, but it hurt too much.

"Yeah," Fang said, staring hard at me. "Just fine."

As soon as he was sure she was gone, he got really close to my face. "Look, Max, if you're sick, you know that I take care of you."

"Like when Lucas was born?"

He was breathing heavy. "When you woke up this morning, you wouldn't tell me if your head hurt or just your stomach. You wouldn't let me feel your head, you wouldn't take the medicine I tried to give you. So yes, I was angry. And yes, I did yell at you, but you fucking deserved it."

I turned onto my side. "Go to hell."

"As soon as I get to drag your ass with me, I will," he said before walking out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Whatever.


	9. Chapter 9

Broken

Chapter 9

"It's break," James explained to the younger boys. "That means there's no school."

"Even for Sam?" Neo asked.

"Yeah," James said, going to sit down on the couch. I sighed. A week with all my boys…

Chris looked up at Cody. "Hi."

"Hi."

Giggling, the youngest of the house got up and walked out of the room. A minute later, he came running back out of the hallway, Fang running after him.

"Got you," he said, picking the toddler up. Lance, who was on the floor, giggled.

"Hi, 'ang."

"Hey, Lance," he said, smiling at him. "How's my three year old today?"

"Good," he said, going back to the toy truck he was playing with. I went and curled up in the chair.

"Can I go over to Dr. Martinez's tonight?" Lucas asked.

"Call her," Fang said, getting down on the floor. Jason climbed up onto his chest, giggling.

"Hi, Daddy."

"Hey, Jay," Fang greeted, giving him a kiss. "Max, I know that we took the day off, but tomorrow one of us has to be up at the store."

I sighed. "I know."

"I vote you."

"Haha, you're so funny."

"Thank you."

The twins got home a few minutes later. They were arguing.

"Tyler, what you did was stupid."

"No! It's not my fault."

"What's wrong?" I asked them as Tyler closed the door behind him.

"All I did was borrow Tabitha's homework," he said.

"So?" Fang asked.

"Not my homework," she said, frowning at him. "He took my project, turned it in as his own, so I didn't have anything to turn in."

"Tabitha, why'd you let him do that?" I asked, frowning.

"He stole it from my locker," she said, crossing her arms. "I went to go get it and it was gone. I thought that maybe Adeem was just messing with me, but he said he wasn't. Tyler had already turned it in."

"You are so grounded," Fang told him. "Go upstairs."

"But-"

"Now!"

Tyler ran off, yelling about how much hate he has for us. Whatever.

"Tabitha, did you tell the teacher that it was your project?"

"No," she said. "We have different class periods. Before I got to her class, he told me had had taken it, but I didn't say nothing."

"Why not?"

"Because he'll fail that class this semester without it," she said. "After break, we only got two weeks before Christmas and the semester ends. He'll fail. I don't want him to fail, Max."

Fang shook his head. "We'll talk about it later, Tabitha."

"Can I go over to Adeem's?"

"I'll take you when I take Lucas to Dr. Martinez's house."

"Okay," she said, running off up the stairs. She didn't seem that mad about what Tyler had done, so I didn't care that much. If it were me and Iggy and he was failing something, I would give up a grade to save him. Fang was just overreacting.

* * *

><p>Cameron had just finished her shower when she heard the phone ring. Damien was at work and it was only her and Samantha at home. He had picked the five year old up from school and dropped her off before heading in.<p>

"Sam! Get the phone for me."

Samantha, who was in her parents bedroom watching TV, giggled, going to grab her mother's phone off the dresser.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello," she said again, this time more of a greeting than a question.

"…Who is this?"

"Samantha," she said. "Hello."

"…Is your mother there?"

"Yes."

"Can I talk to her?"

"Um…hold on," Sam said, going the bathroom door. "Mommy?"

"I told you to stop calling me that."

"Phone for you," she said in her normal cheerful voice.

"Well, who is it?"

"I don't know."

"Ask, Samantha."

"Who is this?" Sam asked into the phone.

"Uh…tell your mother that it's Mary."

Samantha gasped. "Mommy! It's Jesus' mommy!"

"What?" Cameron opened the door and took the phone. "Hello?"

"Cameron?"

"Yeah," she said, going over to the mirror. "Is this one of those Mormons? It's bad enough when you come to my door, but-"

"Cameron, it's me. Mary."

Her breath caught for a moment as she leaned against the counter. It wasn't the support she would find in Damien, but it would have to do. "What do you want? I mean, not to be rude, but…what?"

"Well I…I'm in town and just thought that we could…how's that girl?"

"Samantha? My daughter? Fine."

"No, the other one."

Cameron raked her brain for a second. "Tabitha?"

"Yeah."

"She's fine," she said, frowning. "Why wouldn't she be?"

"Well, I just thought that…she and Timmy were so-"

"-young," Cameron said. "Young enough to not even care, alright? Trust me, he's the last thing on her mind, always."

That might have seemed like an uncouth thing to say, but what did anyone expect? Cameron was an uncouth kind of person. She hid behind her money and supposed maturity. In reality, she was no better than those girls in Tabitha's class that would be your best friend one day, your worst enemy the next.

It was silent for a second. Then Mary spoke again.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted-"

"Well, I don't, okay? You have your life and I have mine. The two things that connected us are gone and it's for the better."

Mary hung up on her. Cameron hung her head, sighing.

"Okay?" Sam asked her, staring at her mother. "Mommy?"

"I'm fine," she mumbled, not even finding the strength to correct her. "Go watch TV."

Samantha ran back over to the bed, cuddling against Bubba. The dog might drool a lot, but he was very cuddly.

* * *

><p>"So did he get in trouble?" Adeem asked.<p>

"Yeah, my dad grounded him," she said as she helped him clean his room up. His dad would be home soon and he had told him to have it done before then.

"You guys get grounded too much."

"Tell me about it."

He got bored with cleaning and decided just to take the punishment, so he sat down on his bed. "Let's do something today."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," he sighed, laying out on the bed. She finished putting his clothes away before joining him.

"Wanna watch a movie?"

"We've seen all the movies I have."

"What about listening to you play guitar?"

He rolled onto his stomach, his side now pressed against her arm. She thought about moving it, but didn't.

"That's boring too."

They laid in a somewhat comfortable silence for awhile. Then his cell went off.

"It's one of your friends," he said, having read the caller id. "Here."

"I don't want to talk to Jenna," she said, handing it back. "Tell her I'm not here."

"You're always here."

"Adeem."

He put the phone under the pillow. "There, just let it ring."

"Why'd you put it under there?"

"I hate my ring tone."

She smiled at him. "I don't think that it's boring."

"What?"

"Earlier when you said that hearing you play guitar is boring," she reminded. "I don't think so."

"Yeah, well, I do."

"Whatever."

He reached over and grabbed the remote, turning on his TV. "Go turn on my X-Box."

"You turn it on."

"I'm comfortable though."

"So am I."

He sighed, getting up to go turn it on. "You're so annoying."

"Is that in the rules?"

"Not that I know of."

"Remind me to add it."

"I won't."

She smiled at he grabbed a controller and laid back down next to her. "What game are you playing?"

"Why does it matter? You don't pay attention anyways."

She shrugged. "It was just a question."

"Yeah, well, it was stupid."

His phone went off again, this time it was a text. Sighing, she reached under the pillow. After reading it, she said, "That was Jenna again. Her and Tony broke up."

"Again?"

"Yeah," she said, looking at him. "Have we ever broken up?"

"I don't know. We've gone without you talking to me before."

She moved around until she was comfortable, laying so that she was facing him. Adeem was now very into his game and clearly didn't care to pursue the conversation any further. She sent Jenna a text back before just laying there, watching his face.

"That's annoying and creepy," he told her after awhile.

"Well, what else do you want me to do?"

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "Just don't be a creeper."

She looked back at his phone. "I asked Max for a phone again."

"And what did she say?"

"That she just got me a TV, I should stop asking for so much."

"Too bad you weren't my sister."

"What?"

"I just meant, if you were my sister, you could have all the stuff I could."

"Then though, I couldn't be your girlfriend, stupid. It would be incest."

"You and your technicalities."

She smiled, laying her head on his upper arm. He glanced at her, but just kept playing the game.

* * *

><p>I yawned, cuddling into the chair. "Fang?"<p>

"What?" He called from the kitchen.

"What are you making?"

"Dinner."

"Fang."

"Chicken strips and fries."

For normal people, putting frozen stuff in the oven and then eating it is easy. Having so many kids though, we had to make a lot more than what normal people eat.

"Where are all the kids?"

"Neo and Jason are in their room, Chris and Lance are in the playpen, Tyler's in his room, Tabitha's already gone, and so is Lucas."

"Cody and James?" I asked through a yawn.

"Trinity came by and took them out."

I pulled the blanket one of my boys had kindly given me during my nap up tighter around me. "You over there, Lance?"

"Wan' out," he whined.

"You know how to climb out," I told him.

"No."

"I know that you've been sneaking out," I said. "Getting cookies for you and Chris, huh?"

He giggled. "Love Max."

"Yeah, whatever."

Chris giggled. "Hi."

"Hi, baby."

I fell back asleep for awhile. Fang woke me up.

"Food, Max."

"Not hungry."

"Yeah, you are."

"Oh, like you'd know my hunger level."

He just sat a plate in my lap. "Eat."

Neo, who was now downstairs, had changed the channel. It was now on some cartoon.

"Neo, change it back."

"No," he told me, cradling the remote.

Chris, who was on the floor in front of me with his food, giggled. He held up his favorite toy, his stuffed tiger.

"What is that? Huh?" I asked him. "Is that Mr. Tiger?"

It was in fact one of Sam's toys, but she had given it to Chris when he was born, in favor for an old baby doll Tabitha had.

"Yes," Chris said, still giggling. He was a very happy baby.

Fang came into the room and made Jason move over some so that he could sit between him and Tyler on the couch.

"Tomorrow, can I see Sam?" Neo asked. "Please?"

"Of course," I mumbled, my eyes starting to droop again.

"Eat, Max," Fang said. "Don't make me go over there and feed you."

For some reason, I don't think he was kidding. Sighing, I ate a little.

"No want yours?" Lance asked me. "Me wan' it."

"No," Fang told him. "You ate enough, bubba."

Lance pouted before getting up to throw his trash away. When Fang wasn't looking, I would start handing him and Neo fries. What? It's not like I was going to eat them.

* * *

><p>Damien got home late. Around eleven, to be exact.<p>

"Hey, Cammie," he whispered, coming into the bedroom. He had already gone into his daughter's room to check on her. "You still up?"

"Yeah," she mumbled, her back to the door. "Guess who called today."

"Uh…my mom?"

"No," she said, turning to face him. "Mary."

"Oh," he said, not sure how he was supposed to react. "Are we happy or-"

"She told me that she never wanted to see me again, remember? I had to just forget about her. She cannot just suddenly decide that she wants to be friends again."

"Right," Damien agreed, nodding his head. So they weren't happy… He got into bed with her, pulling her to him. "Are you okay?"

She scowled, looking up at him. "Are you okay? Huh, Damien? Are you okay?"

"I don't get the…I was just trying to be…"

"Are you okay?" She repeated. "Come on, Damien, your life sucks, right? Are you okay? Tell me, are you?"

He frowned. "Why are you so mean to me?"

"Because I hate you."

He let her go, getting out of bed. "If you hate me so much, maybe we shouldn't-"

"Don't start, you big baby," she spat, trying to make him feel the pain that she did. "You're not even worth worrying about. Go cry to your mother and come back to me when you grow a pair."

He left the room and went into Samantha's. She was sleeping. Damien got into bed with her, pulling her tight to his chest.

"Daddy?"

"I'm going to sleep in bed with you," he said, closing his eyes. "I love you, Sammy."

"I love you too, Daddy," she said, going back to sleep. "Night night."

"Goodnight."

* * *

><p>Around Tuesday, I think the thrill was gone for the boys about all being home together.<p>

"Stop!" Neo yelled, trying to take the soda from Lucas. "Mine!"

"No, it's not," Lucas said, just pushing him off. "Go away."

I sighed, watching them from a kitchen table. What? I'm not getting into that. Lance, who was in my lap, started bouncing.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, looking down at the baby. "Huh?"

He just giggled, leaning against me. "Love you, Max."

"I know you do," I said, cuddling him to me. Chris, who was on the floor playing with Fox, looked up.

"Hi," he told me. He did this periodically for some reason. Don't ask my why.

"Hi," I said back, like I always would. He giggled, kissing his kitty.

"Max, can Alex and me go outside?" Tyler asked, coming into the kitchen.

"Alex and I."

"What?"

I shook my head. "Yeah, fine. Have fun."

He and Alex left, Lucas trailing behind them. I heard Tyler yell at him, but he left the house with them.

"Me go," Lance said, wiggling.

"No," I said, giving him a kiss. "You have to stay with me."

He groaned before biting me.

"Stop it," I hissed at him. I put him in the corner, next to the trashcan. He cried for a second before kicking the trash over.

"Lance bad," Jason said as I dragged him out of the room. I put him in his bedroom before going back to the clean up the trash. Little brat…

* * *

><p>Damien had his nephew and his best friend for the day. He liked spending time with the two boys. They were cool.<p>

"Yeah," James went on as they ate their lunch. "Dan asked me if I liked black girls. I asked him why. Gramps said he was just wonderin'. I said no."

"Why?" Damien asked. "You can't not like someone because of their race, James. You're black too."

"I know," he said, playing with the toy that came in his kids meal. "But I like blonde hair."

"I like black girls," Cody told Damien. "I even got a few girlfriends."

"Really?" Damien asked. In his experience, any girl, black, white, anything, will beat you up. Even your own wife…

"Yeah," he said, smiling. "Nothing like Tabby and Adeem, but I still got 'em."

"Cody, you shouldn't rule out other races either," Damien sighed. "Why do you like black girls only?"

"I like braids," he said. "Kira has braids and she's white, but it's not the same. And Trishia, she's black, she has way better braids than Kira. Then Moomoo, I call her that because she likes cows, like a lot, she keeps her hair puffed out, like in an afro but not. She told me that I'm the cutest guy ever. Even better than Brad Pitts."

"Pitt," Damien corrected.

"Then Kim, she's Indian, she has a really long braid that goes down her back. She likes me because I help her with her homework," he said, smiling.

Damien just shook his head. All this time he thought that Cody was a good boy. He was just a…womanizer.

"Then, there's-"

"Enough, Cody," Damien sighed.

James was still smiling. "Yeah, me and Cody got a lot of girlfriends."

"Uh-huh," Cody agreed. "Oh, and then there's my favorite one."

"Which one's that?" Damien asked, not really interested.

"Daisy," he said, giggling. "She's Asian. I don't know where Asia is, but I like it."

"Where in Asia?" Damien asked.

The little boy shrugged. "I don't know."

"I asked Dan about Asians," James randomly said. "He told me that they're bad."

"He'll tell you everyone except white people are bad."

"Yeah," he agreed.

"James, why don't you call my dad Grandpa?"

James frowned. "I do sometimes. I don't like him that much."

Who does? Well, Tyler, but he's just weird.

* * *

><p>Fang got home late tonight. When he did, I was in bed already, half asleep with the TV on. He went into the bathroom and, when he came out, he only had on his boxers. I don't think he thought I was awake. Clearly tired, he got into bed and put his back to me. I yawned silently before rolling to face him.<p>

"You weren't even going to turn off the TV?"

He rolled to face me. "I didn't even notice."

I cuddled against his chest. "How was work?"

Ignoring this, Fang reached over me to get the remote and turn off the TV before rubbing my back. "When's the last time you went flying?"

"A long time," I mumbled. "You?"

"Not recently," he sighed. "One of us needs to teach Lucas, though."

"Last time you did-"

"That was a long time ago."

I looked up at his face, kissing under his chin. "You need to shave."

"I don't know," he said. "I kind of like the rough look."

"The word is rugged," I told him. "Hey, baby?"

"Hmmm?"

I closed my eyes. I knew what I was about to say was going to start something, but… "You smell good."

"Thanks."

"Like girl good."

He stopped rubbing my back. "Oh…thanks, I guess."

"Like a woman was all over you good."

"What are you trying to say?" He asked, pushing me away enough to look into my eyes, but so that I was still touching him.

"I don't know," I said, looking away.

"I can't deal with this tonight," he grumbled, getting out of bed.

"Fang, you can't just walk away from me every time I-"

"Yes, I can."

"No," I whined, feeling suddenly bad. "Stay with me."

He stopped at the door. "Max, don't you trust me? Huh? Have I not proven myself yet?"

"I don't know…"

"I never had sex with her."

"Thanks, Clinton."

"What?"

I sighed. "Come get back in bed."

"Max, I can't do this tonight."

"Then when, Fang? Whenever I try and-"

"I don't like being accused of things I haven't done," he said, his eyes trying to find mine, but I refused to let them.

"All I said was that you smelled-"

"If you still can't trust me, after this long, maybe you need to look at yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"I just meant…do you really want to be with me?"

"I think I should be the one asking that."

He sighed, coming back over to the bed. "Yeah, Max, I can honestly say that I do."

"And I want to be with you."

"Then learn to keep some things to yourself."

I put my back to him as he crawled back into bed. "Whatever, Fang."

He just kissed the back of my head. "I haven't even looked at another girl since-"

"Liar."

"Well, I haven't tried to sleep with one."

Is that really good enough? He pulled me to him, settling into the bed.

"Why'd you get home late?"

"It's not like we have a set time to close, Max," he said, his breath in my ear.

"Fang, if you have ever cheated on me, now's your chance to say something. Anytime past this and we're through."

"What's up with you tonight?" He asked, kissing my ear.

"I've just been thinking about Bone and Luther and stuff."

"Well, stop. I'm not them."

"I know," I said.

"And never, to answer you question," he said, rubbing my stomach. "You know, Maxie, I've been thinking too."

"What about?" I asked, closing my eyes.

"Having another baby."

I elbowed him. "No way."

"Why not?" He whined.

"You just want another one because you're obsessed with me pregnant."

"And? What if I am?"

I just shook my head. "Fang?"

"What, baby?"

"…Wanna have sex?"

Well, that's one way to avoid talking.

* * *

><p>"I'm thinking about being in band next year."<p>

It was the next day and Tabitha was up in her room with Adeem. She was on her bed, going through a magazine as he played his PSP on the floor.

"What?" He looked up. "Why?"

"I don't know…everyone else is doing it."

He snorted, though it was mainly because he had a runny nose. "What instrument?"

"I don't know yet," she admitted.

"I don't want you in band," he said.

"Why not?"

"I just don't," Adeem said, going back to his game. "You'd end up playing something stupid like flute."

"Flute is not stupid."

"Yes, it is," he went on. "Or trombone, trumpet, oboe, and all that other stuff."

"You're stupid."

"Oh, you're mature," he mocked.

"I could say the same to you."

He paused his game before getting up to get into bed with her. "What are you reading?"

"A magazine."

"Again with the maturity thing," he mumbled, moving to get as close to her as possible. He laid his head down next to hers. "I noticed something."

"With what?"

"Your parents," he said. "How come they…they….why do they still like each other?"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Your parents still hug and kiss and like being around each other," he said. "Do they still have sex?"

"I don't know," she said, blushing.

"Yeah, you do. Like, I know mine aren't."

"How?"

"They hate each other."

She turned her head to look at him. Their faces were very close now. Almost too close. "No, they don't."

"Yeah, they do," he said, nodding his head a little. "Everyone's parents do…except yours."

"If your parents hated each other, they would divorce," she said.

"Not everyone gets divorced," he told her. "A lot of people, but not everyone."

"Well…my parents have fights too."

"Yeah, but they still at least like each other."

She sighed. "Why does it matter, Adeem?"

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "It was just a question."

She looked back at the magazine. "Whatever."

He moved closer still, so that his head was against the side of hers. Frowning a little, she told him to cut it out.

"Why? You know you like it."

"Whatever, rapist."

"How does that make me a rapist?" He asked, frowning.

"You just sound like a rapist saying that."

"It's only rape if you don't like it."

She pushed his head. "I said to stop. If my dad walks in-"

"I can hear his footsteps when he comes," Adeem said, running a hand over her arm. Tabitha moved away a little, but not a lot.

"I'm tired," she said. "Lance came into my room last night when he had a bad dream."

"Why didn't he go to your parents' room?"

"Their door was locked."

"Another way you know that they're having sex."

"Shut up about that, okay?" She pushed his head. "I don't want to think about that."

He just smirked. "Tomorrow's Thanksgiving."

"So?"

"Come to my house."

"I'll ask," she mumbled.

"Where are all those people that you normally have at your house?"

"Iggy couldn't come and neither could Nudge. Angel is in Europe with a boyfriend and Gasman couldn't get off work," she said, reaching up to touch his hair. It was going past his ears now. "You need to cut your hair."

"This is the way I wear it."

"I like it better when you had it shaved, last year," she told him. "Like that other Muslim kid's hair."

"Why do you have to compare me to the only other Muslim in the school?" He asked. "You couldn't compare me to someone else?"

She frowned, looking at him. "Did I hurt your feelings?"

"No, not really," he said, closing his eyes. "It was just kind of mean."

"I'm sorry."

He smiled. She was rare to hand down a sorry. "It's okay, Tabby."

"Is he even Muslim?" She asked. "Or is he just Arab?"

"He might not even be Arab, Tabitha. He could be Iranian, Persian-"

"Whatever."

"And even if he is Muslim, he could be Shiite."

"What are you?"

"Sunni."

"What's the difference?"

"Do you really care?"

"No," she said.

"Didn't think so."

* * *

><p>I was at work, having taken Lucas and Cody with me. I brought them to try and make them get along better. It wasn't working out all that well.<p>

"I hate you!" Lucas yelled at Cody, pushing him away.

"He pushed me!"

I ignored them, having already abandoned the idea of making them friends. They're brothers, that's enough for now. After a few minutes, it got quiet again. Cody had yelled before going to play by himself in the back.

"Why are you so mean to your brother?" I asked Lucas as he went back to restocking. That's the whole reason I brought him, honestly.

"I'm not," he said as he kept working. "He's annoying and annoys me."

"You annoy Tyler."

"And he's mean to me!"

"Right," I said. "Stop the cycle."

"No, I'm good."

I groaned. "You're about to be eight, Lucas. Be the bigger man."

"Maybe I don't wanna be a man."

If only Fang were here… "You know that tomorrow is Thanksgiving."

"I know," Lucas said, giggling a little. "I wish Iggy was here."

"He said that he would be sure to come down for Christmas."

"I know," Lucas said. "I'm happy."

"You're always happy." Except when he's arguing with Cody.

"It's almost my birthday," he told me. "And Christmas."

"Yeah, I know."

"I asked Adeem if he could take Tabitha to his house for Christmas, as a present to me."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Because she ruins Christmas. She just sits there and tells us that we're all going to hell for judging people."

"She does not."

"Yes, she does," Lucas said, nodding his head feverishly. "Whenever she says something about how stupid Christmas is, I tell her about how Adeem's gonna go to hell. Then she gets mad and tells me that I'm going to, for judging him. It's not fair."

"Lucas," I scolded. "Don't you talk about Adeem like that."

"Dad says that I have to," he defended.

"What?"

"Yeah," he went on. "He said that we have to pressure Tabitha into forgetting about him."

"Lucas, don't you listen to your father," I sighed. "He's just a…he's just a hypocrite."

"Don't talk bad about Dad," Lucas warned. "He says that all you do is say bad things about him because of one mistake he made."

"Oh? What would that mistake be?"

"I'm not sure," Lucas said, frowning. "It can't be that bad, though. He's a great man, Mommy. That's what Grandma says. You just don't appreciate him. You want him to be something he's not because you're a woman."

"Who told you that last sentence?"

"Dan."

"Look at me, Lucas."

He did so.

"Me? I gave birth to you. I went through hell with your father to bring you here. Me, no one else. So if you're going to listen to anyone, you are going to listen to me."

"I'm listening."

"Your father is a homophobe that is also hypocritical. Dr. Martinez thinks that your father is great because she lives in a fake world, where I'm always wrong. Dan is just a racist. Understand?"

He gave me a short nod. "I love you the most anyways, Mommy."

"I know you do."

"Do you love me the most?"

I just laughed. Lucas got very annoyed with me.

"What? Why's that funny?" He turned back to the bookshelf, but didn't keep restocking. "You just like Kevin more than me."

I stopped. "What?"

He nodded, still not looking at me. "That's what Jeb told me. You just had me to replace Kevin. I'm better than him though!"

I didn't know what I was angrier about, Jeb or Lucas's words. "When have you been talking to him?"

He froze, finally realizing his error. In typical seven year old fashion, lying was the first thing that came to his mind.

"I haven't."

"You're already in trouble. Don't lie to me anymore."

"When I'm at Grandma's, sometimes he calls. Dad told her that it's okay if I talk to him, as long as he doesn't talk about me being a weapon. Mommy, does that mean that he wants to turn me into a gun?"

I hope Fang liked last night. It'll be the last night we ever share with each other.

* * *

><p>Fang sighed. Sleeping on the couch was not ideal, but there was no way that he was going to try and go into that bedroom again.<p>

"Fang?"

He looked up as Lance came into the room. "Go back to bed, buddy."

"You and Max fight?"

"It's fine," he said. "Go back to bed."

Disregarding the order, Lance went over to him and crawled up onto his chest. "Seep with you."

"Alright," Fang said. Lance moved the beat up, old stuffed animal he carried around up to Fang's face.

"Wat says ni-ni."

"Goodnight, Wat."

Wat was a stuffed rat. It was the only toy that Lance had from when he lived with his mother and father. That's not why he liked it best though. He liked Wat because he was his best friend. Duh.

Lance giggled, closing his eyes as Fang wrapped the blanket up around them. Fang gave him a kiss, his mind wandering to the fight he had just had with Max. When she got home, she immediately began to yell at him before running off to the bedroom. An hour ago, he went in there and tried to talk, but she threatened to kill him so he left.

"Love," Lance mumbled, starting to feel sleepy. He loved his Max, but his Fang was so much more important. His Fang did everything for him. He played with him, helped him learn to peepee in the toilet, taught him that you have to take care of your wife. Most importantly though, he showed him how to burp. Lance loved his Fang more than he loved Wat. Now that was deep.

* * *

><p>Tyler was over at his best friend's house for Thanksgiving. It was easy for him and Tabitha to get out of going to Dr. Martinez's, mostly because even Max refused to go. Something about Kevin. Tyler didn't care. He had a hard enough time remembering things about his living siblings. Why should he worry about the dead one?<p>

"Where's Tabitha?" Alex asked. "Did they let her go to Adeem's house?"

"Yeah," he said, shrugging. "But who cares about that?"

She rolled her eyes, going to sit down on the bed. Tyler was on her floor, drawing. He was trying to make his own comic book. Unfortunately, it seemed that Tabitha had taken all the artistic genes in their family. She still supported him in it though. She would support him in world domination, if he was able to think about a conquest that big. Luckily, he wasn't.

"Wanna spend the night?" She asked.

They still stayed the night with each other. Not in the same bed, though. They were both starting to grow up and certain things could make that awkward, especially things that Tyler was experiencing. So, they would sleep in the living room, in sleeping bags on the floor.

"Duh," he said, rolling his eyes. Alex could be really stupid sometimes. "Have you talked to Juan?"

"About what?"

"My band playing at his wedding."

She sighed. "Tyler, I asked and he said no."

"What? I thought that we were friends."

"Right now, you're the only one in the band," she reminded.

"So? I could be like Secondhand Serenade."

"Only less hot and a lot less talented."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

She just shrugged. She said that she'd support him through anything. She never said anything about lying to him.


	10. Chapter 10

Broken

Chapter 10

Fang and I haven't been talking. I couldn't talk to him. He was letting that, that man talk to my baby behind my back. How dare he? Tabitha, however, wasn't fighting with her significant other. Oh, no, of course not.

I was in the living room, trying to take a nap on the couch, when they walked down the stairs.

"No," she was saying. "I just think that its stupid."

"Well, do you want me to stop saying it to you?"

"I didn't say that."

He laughed as they walked into the kitchen and then the garage. I looked at Tyler, who was in the chair.

"Do you know what they were talking about?"

"She won't tell him that she loves him," he said, not looking up from his DS.

"Why?"

"Because she says that it's stupid to have to say something like that."

"Hmmm…"

"How long are you going to make Dad sleep on the couch?" He asked.

"As long as I want."

He laughed. "Good."

"Good?"

"Yeah. I hate Dad."

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head a little. "What for?"

"I don't know," he said. "I just do."

"But you love me, right?"

"Max," he whined.

I just smiled, taking that as a yes.

* * *

><p>Damien was lying in bed, Cameron cuddled against his chest. They were watching TV in their bedroom and were actually not fighting that day.<p>

"I wish Sam was home."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "She loves it at your parents, Damien."

"Still."

She leaned up and kissed his chin. "See?"

"See what?"

"I've been good this whole week."

"Cam."

"Day. I meant day."

"You have," he mumbled, kissing the top of her head.

"Can I have my ring back then?"

He sighed, looking down at her. The cross was still around their daughter's neck and the ring was still hidden away. Of course, she still wore her engagement ring, but that was different. She had stopped wearing it for awhile, because she thought that she didn't need to wear both. Now that the wedding ring was gone, she most definitely did.

"Cameron-"

"No, Damien," she pushed his arms off her, but stayed in her place against his chest. "It's mine and I want it back."

"And you will get it back. Just not right now."

"I really hate you right now."

He didn't want to fight with her. Not today. Not when they were having an awesome day. No, not today. Maybe tomorrow when Sam was getting on her nerves or she refused to let him go to a Dragon Ball Z cards game. Not today though. Not on a good day.

"That's fine," he whispered, running a hand down her head. "That's perfectly fine."

* * *

><p>"The itsy bitsy s'ider went up the wa'er spout. Rain wash 'im out. Sun dry up rain. Itsy bitsy s'ider go up spout again!"<p>

Chris looked at his father when he finished. "Good?"

"Yep," Fang mumbled, making up his bed on the couch. Max made him get rid of it every morning. "Very good."

He giggled, grabbing a pillow off the floor and handing it to his daddy. "Good?'

"Yeah, you're a great helper."

Again, he giggled. "Seep?"

"Mommy'll be here in a second to put you in bed."

He wrapped his arms around his father's leg. "Love?'

"I love you very much, bub. You're my baby, huh?"

"Yes!"

"Fang!" Lance came running into the room. "Story!"

Fang sighed. Having finally finished making up the bed, he sat down on it. "Jason! Neo!"

They came out of their room, running down the stairs. Chris climbed up next to his dad. Giggling, Lance got into Fang's lap. Jason and Neo got onto the couch too, sitting on one side of Fang, opposite of Chris.

"What do you want to hear?" Fang asked, giving Wat a kiss and then Mr. Tiger one too when prompted.

"One of your stories," Jason said, laying his head against his father. Neo, who next to Jason and not Fang, pouted, angry that he couldn't be next to Fang.

"Yeah," Lance agreed, cuddling against him.

"Alright, we have to hurry before Mommy gets out of the shower," Fang sighed. "Okay, a long, long time ago, there was an angel. He grew up with other angels, but they weren't like him. He was special."

"Was he the leader?" Neo asked.

"No," Fang said slowly. "He controlled the leader though. Kind of. He was stronger than her."

"Her?" Lance looked up in shock.

"Yes, her," Fang said, kissing his head. "Girls can be leaders."

"Like who?" Neo asked. "Sam is bossy, but I'm leader."

"Well…they're not always leader, but they are very important." Gag. He knew though that he had to say this. Women were more of equals, now more than ever. He wasn't going to raise chauvinists.

"Who?"

"Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, Blink from X-men, Dusk from Slingers. Come on, boys, you know that there are a lot of women leaders."

"S'oy," Chris demanded, not caring for any of this.

"Right," Fang said, shaking his head. "So, this angel was special. He was way smarter and stronger and had better people skills and just an all around better person than his leader."

"Why didn't he be leader then?" Jason asked, confused. Fang's story had gone over his head.

"Because he loved his leader and knew that she did a better job at it."

"Loved her?"

"Yep," Fang said, nodding at Neo.

"I don't like love stories," Jason told Fang. "I'm not a girl."

Lance started chewing on Wat. This story was too good to interrupt. Jason needed to shut his mouth. See, Lance wasn't allowed to say shut up. That was a curse word in Max's book apparently.

"Anyways," Fang said after pushing Jason's head a little. "One day, they were out fighting."

"Fighting what?" Neo asked.

"Monsters."

"What kind?"

"Scary ones, Neo."

"What kind of scary monsters?"

Exasperated, Fang said, "Whatever kind you want, Neo."

"Red ones?"

"Sure," Fang said before continuing. "So, they were out fighting. Their oh so smart leader had decided that she could take on too much. She got hit in the head a few too many times and got knocked out. Who saved her?"

"Santa," Jason said. Santa saved everyone.

"No."

"Jesus?" Neo guessed.

"No."

"But Dan says that Jesus saves!"

"Not that kind, Neo," Fang said. "Anyways, it was the angel."

"He saved her?"

"Yeah, Jason."

"Why?"

"Because he loved her."

"Then what?'

"What do you mean then what?" Fang asked, glancing at Neo. "I saved her a million more times and then I married her."

"What?" Jason scratched his head. "Not a good story, Daddy. Another one."

"Yeah," Neo demanded. "Another."

So he told them Three Little Pigs for the umpteenth time.

"Good story," congratulated Neo once it was over.

"Very good," Jason agreed, clapping a little. Lance yawned, ready to go to bed. Chris had already fallen asleep against his father.

"I don't know," said a voice from the hallway. "I liked the first one a little better."

* * *

><p>"Mommy!" Jason held up his hands as I walked into the room. Fang coughed.<p>

"Well, boys, you guys go get in bed," he said, handing me Chris. "I'll be upstairs in a minute."

Jason and Neo ran up the stairs while Fang and I took the younger two to their bedroom. After we had tucked them in and the other two, we ended up back in the living room. Fang coughed again.

"Got a cold, babe?"

He ignored that. "So you heard it all?"

"The cough?"

"Max."

"I came in when you were talking about important women or something."

He sighed. "Well…you know…just a story."

I went over to him and gave him a kiss, something we hadn't done in the past week or two. Fang smiled.

"So I can come back to the bedroom now?"

I frowned. "No, I didn't say that."

"But I thought-"

"You thought wrong," I said before walking off. What? He was letting my baby talk to that evil, evil man. Just saying something cute that is also kind of creepy is not going to cut it this time!

* * *

><p>The next day at school, Tabitha and Adeem weren't fighting, but they weren't <em>not<em> fighting either, if that made sense. They still sat next to each other at lunch though. True, Tabitha had friends, everyone had friends, she still got stuck sitting with Adeem's friends instead of him being stuck sitting with her friends. This was mostly due to the fact that none of Tabitha's so called friends wanted her to sit with them, but whatever.

She sighed, picking at her food while half listening to the boys conversation. Something about the basketball game. Sigh. Whenever they were alone, he was very interested in her. When they were around other people though, she seemed to turn into the tag along, the person he had to bring with him.

"Here," he said, handing her his Gatorade after he took one sip. It was red. He knew that she liked red best, who didn't, and would always give it to her. Seriously though, who didn't? She had decided that the person who liked some other flavor better should be killed.

She took it from him, not saying anything. He didn't notice though. He and the other boys were in a deep conversation from the looks of it. Boys were so stupid.

After lunch, they had next period together, so they always walked with each other. Normally, they were either arguing or talking, but today they were both quiet. It was weird.

"Uh…are you coming over after school?" He asked.

"No. Are you coming over to my house?"

"I don't think so."

She shrugged. "Whatever."

"Did you do the homework for science?"

"Yes."

"Did you do mine?"

"Yes."

"Are the answers that we had to write out written differently? Last time, he kept commenting on how our answers are always very similar."

"I changed them some, yeah."

They didn't talk the rest of the day. Like, at all. Well, except for right before she got on her bus and left. That didn't really count though. They just said bye and he gave her his baseball cap, like he sometimes does when they're fighting. She didn't think that they were fighting though. They were just…different today. That's all. Yeah, different. Since when is different bad? Oh yeah, like, forever.

* * *

><p>"Have a good day?" Damien asked Sam as she got into his truck.<p>

"Yes! We played with Play-Doh, had snack time, and naptime. I wasn't all that sleepy, but I slept for a minute."

"A whole minute?"

She giggled. "How was your day, Daddy?"

He shrugged as best he could while driving. "Me and Mommy were both off."

"Oh."

"Yeah," he said, turning the radio down a little. "Remember yesterday how after school you went to Grandma's?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding a little.

"Did you have fun?"

"Yes…no…Why couldn't I just go see Neo?"

Damien rolled his eyes. "Neo was busy."

"With what?"

"I don't know, Sammy."

She shook her head. "If you don't know, you shouldn't talk. That's what Mommy says."

"Yeah, well, Mommy says a lot of things," he commented dryly. Samantha nodded her head.

"A lot,," she repeated. "Hey, wanna hear a joke?"

"Sure."

"Then tell me one."

He shook his head. "Sam."

She giggled. "Can I see Neo today?"

"No," Damien told her, pulling up into their driveway. "He's busy today too."

"Really?" She asked, getting out of the car. "With what?"

"Probably the same thing as yesterday."

"Which you don't know."

"Exactly."

"Daddy," she whined as she went up the house. Opening the door, she was immediately greeted by Bubba. He missed Bone, sure, but he was in the last years of his life. It was nice to have a little kid to rub his stomach, but was old enough to know not to pull his tail and wasn't too old to forget that ruff petting is like when you're a baby and people poke and prod at you. It isn't any fun.

"Hi, Bubba," she greeted, giving him a kiss. "Did you miss me?"

The old dog wagged his tail before going over to the couch and laying down on it. Peter, who was already on the couch, screeched loudly when the canine laid his slobbery head on his back.

"What's wrong?" Cameron called from the kitchen as Peter ran in there, needing his mommy for protection.

"Nothing," Damien sighed. Cameron wasn't that easily dissuaded.

"Well, that stupid dog needs to leave Peter alone."

"Bubba isn't stupid, Mommy," Samantha said. She wasn't that fond of Peter, really. Sure, she loved him, but he bit her and stuff. "Stupid's a bad word."

"Shut up, Samantha. Huh? Like that word better?"

Damien sighed, going over to the chair to sit down. "Cam, what happened to having a good day?"

"That was yesterday, today is today."

He shook his head as she finally came out of the kitchen, his cat in her arms. She looked, more like glared, at them before going up the stairs with him.

"Mommy's mean," Samantha said as she got up onto the couch with the dog.

"Only to us."

* * *

><p>Whenever Tabitha came home with one of Adeem's hats, I knew one of two things. First of all, they were fighting. Secondly, one of the boys would get the hat.<p>

"Me!" Neo yelled.

"No," Jason complained. "He got it last time."

She just stared at them before going over to Lance and Chris. Neither was concerned with the hat, but she sat it between them. The two boys looked at it. Giggling, Lance picked it up and sat it on Chris's head. Also laughing, Chris took it off and put it on Lance's head.

"That's not fair," Neo complained.

"Yeah," Jason agreed.

She just shrugged before walking up the stairs.

"Mommy, that's not fair," Jason told me.

"Why not?" I asked, looking back at the TV.

"They don't even want it," Neo said. "Lance, give me the hat!"

"No," he said, taking it off his head and putting it under Chris's shirt, to hid it I think. "Me and Chris's hat."

Chris nodded his head, no longer laughing. "Yeah."

Jason stomped his feet, getting ready to have a fit. "No!"

"Stop it," I told Jason, frowning. "You want me to call Daddy?"

Neo grabbed Jason's hand a pulled him up the stairs. Whatever. Tyler and Lucas, who had come in with their sister, but gone into the kitchen, came back out.

"Mom?" Lucas asked.

"What?"

"Don't you have to pick up Cody and James?"

"No," I said, not looking away from the TV. "Daddy is."

"What about work?" Tyler asked.

"We hired someone to watch the store."

"Who?"

* * *

><p>"Wow."<p>

Lucas smiled along with his older brother. "Yeah."

"Once a cheater, always a cheater," Tabitha sang before going into the back. The woman frowned at her before looking at me.

"Hi," she said.

I forced myself to smile back at her. It was the next day and I had work. "Hi, I'm Max."

"Yeah," she said. "Ooh, you brought some of your kids. Let me guess…Neo and Jason?"

"No!" Tyler frowned. "They're babies."

"Yeah," Lucas agreed. "We're men."

Oh God. I shook my head. "This is Tyler and that's Lucas."

"Oh, sorry."

I shrugged. This was my first time meeting her. When I told Fang to hire someone new, I had enlisted the help of Damien so that I didn't have to interview people. I laid down some ground rules, of course. No redheads, no hot women, and no one Fang might sleep with. Apparently, every rule besides redheads has gone over their heads.

"So you work Saturdays and Fang works…?"

"Oh, no, we have no schedule," I told her. "You do, but me and him just wake up and decide who goes."

"That's cool," she said, smiling.

"Can I have a hug?" Lucas asked, staring at her breasts. He's seven!

She coughed. "What?"

"Do you have boyfriend?" Tyler asked.

"No," she said slowly, as if judging the situation. "I have a…significant other."

"Oh, you're gay?" Lucas still seemed interested. "You can date Tammie!"

"I already have a girlfriend," she said once she realized he knew what significant other meant. Okay, I'm cool with her again. I went and sat down next to her, laying my head down.

"What's your name?" Tyler asked, now very guarded.

"Well, my name is Meredith."

"Ew," Lucas said.

"Yeah," she agreed, frowning along with him. "You can call me something else if you want."

"Don't you already got a nickname?" Lucas asked.

"Yes, but it's not very…" She looked at me for help.

"Just make up another one for her," I told Lucas. "Like how we called Artemis Bone or Tamisha Tammie."

"Okay," Lucas said, staring at her. "What can you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, I can do anything, because I'm me. Tyler can quote the bible because he has no life. Mom's good at cursing and Dad's good at yelling. What are you good at?"

She frowned. "Well…I can play the clarinet."

"Like Squidward!" Lucas yelled. "I'm gonna call you Squid."

"Okay then," she said, laughing a little.

"Look, Meredith or Squid," Tyler interrupted. "You're going to hell along with my sister and her boyfriend."

"Tyler Reese," I said, frowning at him. "Go…Just go away."

Lucas laughed. "You're gonna get in trouble when we get home."

"You're all going to get in trouble when God comes," Tyler raved, walking to the back. I looked at Lucas.

"Go tell Tabitha to do inventory. Then you come back and restock."

He nodded before running off. Meredith frowned at me.

"You let your kids do stuff like that?"

"Yeah," I said, closing my eyes. "Why else would I have brought them?"

* * *

><p>After Max got off, Tabitha made her pick up Adeem and take him home with them. Now, they were in her room, Tyler with them.<p>

"Yeah, she's hot and stuff," he went on. "But she's a lesbian."

"Okay, I want to meet her," Adeem suddenly said. Tabitha kicked him in the head. She was laying on her bed, him sitting on the floor while Tyler stood by the door. "Ow, Tabitha!"

"What?" She asked, looking innocent. "That was an accident."

"Why would you want to meet her?" Tyler asked, frowning at him. "Oh, so that you can meet the person you're going to burn with for eternity?"

When neither Tabitha nor her boyfriend rose to the bait, Tyler left the room. Adeem jumped up and got into bed with her.

"Where's that hat I gave you?"

"Same place they all are."

"With Neo and Jason?"

"No," she said as he moved to lay his head directly next to hers. "Chris and Lance."

"What?"

"Yeah." She turned her head to stare at him. "Neo and Jason fight over it. Chris and Lance just like having it."

He moved to lay a hand on her stomach. Tabitha felt uncomfortable with this, but let it stay there.

"What's for dinner?" He asked.

"My dad's ordering pizza."

"Good."

"What?"

"I was afraid that your mom was going to make it."

She laughed. "Anyways…why do you want to meet her?"

"Your mom?"

"Adeem."

"That woman? Because I need to know who my girlfriends around."

"Whatever. You just need a new person to think about when you-"

"Like you know anything about that."

"Whatever."

* * *

><p>"So you met her?" Fang asked as I sat down in his lap. He wasn't staying in the bedroom yet, but I decided that cutting him off completely might blow up in my face. Or some other woman's face…<p>

"Yes," I said, cuddling against him. We were in the living room, in the chair, because Jason and Neo had taken all the couch cushions up to their room for a fort. "She's very…lesbian."

He laughed. "I thought that you'd like that."

"You're a very smart man," I mumbled, giving him a kiss on the nose.

"Adeem's here?"

"You saw him come in."

"In her room?"

"Fang, focus on us for a moment, alright?"

He smiled again, kissing my head. "Lucas said that he liked her."

"Oh, he more than likes her."

Fang groaned. "I don't like having sons anymore."

I just smiled, leaning down to kiss him again. "I haven't seen Cody and James today."

"They're in their room, hanging out."

"Sounds like fun."

"Not as much fun as we're having," he mumbled, leaning up to kiss me again.

"Do you have to do that?"

"Go away, Luke," Fang said, running a hand down my back. "We're busy."

"I just wanted you all to know that I am now dropping out of school."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes," he said, nodding his head. "And I'm going to work at the store. Only when Mom or Squid is there."

"No, Lucas," I sighed. "Go away."

"Please?"

"No."

He groaned before running back up the stairs.

"Squid?" Fang questioned.

"Not important."

* * *

><p>Two days later was the last week before school let out for winter break. That should mean that it was a blow off week, but not when you had a teacher like Mr. Wilson.<p>

"I don't get why we have to have a stupid project," Adeem said as he and Tabitha walked into his bedroom.

"Because Mr. Wilson is stupid," she said, laying down on his bed. "What do we have to do again?"

"Here," he said, handing her the paper. "I don't even want to read it."

She groaned, looking at the paper. "We have to come up with an invention that helps the world improve."

"This is stupid," he continued to complain, getting onto the bed with her. "Hey, Tabitha?"

"What?"

"What if I do the project?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah," he said, glancing at the paper. "All I have to do is type up a paper about what the invention does, how it'll improve the world, and a sketch of it. I'll do the whole thing. You know, as like…a gift?"

"A Christmas gift?"

"No," he said. "A…winter gift."

"Fine, whatever."

He laid his hand on her stomach, like he did on Saturday. "It's due on Friday, so I have the rest of the week."

"Yeah," she said, looking at him. "Friday's a half day, so Max is picking me up and taking me to work with her. You want to come?"

"I can."

"Alright then."

He smiled. "Can I tell you something? And you won't get mad at me?"

"Yeah, sure," she agreed, though she knew he was fully aware that she always reserved the right to get mad at him. It was in the rules, after all.

"You know how we always hangout over winter break?"

"Yeah."

"Well…the first Monday of winter break, I'm flying out to see my brother up in New York."

"What?"

"Yeah," he said, staring at her. "I'll bring you back a gift."

"Why would you say yes?" She was mad at him.

"That's my brother, Tabby," he said. "More importantly, it's New York!"

She huffed. "Well, what am I supposed to do while you're up there with snow and stuff? Sit here and die of heatstroke?"

"Stop," he said, sighing.

"No."

"It's not that big of deal," he went on.

"You're just saying that because you're the one that gets to go. If I was leaving, you'd be just as mad."

"No, I wouldn't," he said. "I would just hang out with some of my other friends. Come on, you have a million other friends to hang out with. Right?"

She just stared at him. "I hate you."

* * *

><p>I yawned, opening my eyes a little. Today, both Fang and I were off, so I let him deal with the kids while I stayed in bed all day. It was like five now and someone was bothering me.<p>

"You haven't eaten at all today."

I stared into Fang's dark eyes. He looked tired. Oh well. "So?"

"You haven't gotten out of bed at all either."

"Not true," I said, frowning. "I got up at, like, noon to pee."

"Max."

"What?"

He sighed. I just now noticed that he was in bed. The same bed that I had banned him from.

"Fang, get up."

"What?" He asked, rolling to lay on his back.

"You're not allowed in bed."

"Make me get up."

I tried to push him off the bed, but it was in vain. Finally, I gave up and just laid against him. "Who's watching the kids?"

"Jason and Neo went over to Damien's today and Chris and Lance went over to your mom's."

"Everyone else got home okay?"

"Yeah, except for Tabs. She's at Adeem's."

I sighed, running a hand down his arm. "I refilled you prescription for pills yesterday."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks."

Closing my eyes again, I said, "You think that maybe you're too dependent on those?"

"No," he said. "Max, they're painkillers. Who's ever gotten addicted to freaking painkillers?"

Sometimes, it's nice to be the smartest in the relationship. Other times…

* * *

><p>Wednesday, after school, I was trying to sleep, but Meredith was making it hard. She has to be nice to kids. Ugh.<p>

"I don't know, boys," she said to them. "You all seemed to jump pretty high but…I think maybe Lance won."

"Ya!" He wiggled his butt, something he did when he got excited. "Me win!"

Chris, who had just been sitting there, looked up at his friend. "Hi."

"Hi," Lance said back.

Neo frowned. "Lance wins everything. Just because he ain't got a mommy and his daddy hates him. That's not fair!"

Lance got upset. "Max!"

James glared at Neo. "You're mean. Just because you didn't win. At least his Mommy used to love him. Yours didn't even want you."

Now Neo started crying. Samantha, who was next to him, got mad at her cousin. "Shut up, James! 'Least his daddy loves him."

"Max!" James started crying. God, kill me.

"Everyone stop talking about everyone else's parents, okay?"

Today, I had the kids. Cameron had work and Damien and Fang went to the movies. Apparently, they had to go see this new X-Men movie. Something about a class. First period maybe? I don't know. When I asked Fang why they went, seeing as he calls all the movies with real people crappy, he said because they are Marvel fans. They have to go regardless. Whatever. I just knew that meant that I was stuck with all the kids.

"Wow," Meredith said. "You all are so…rude."

Tabitha, who was restocking for me, rolled her eyes. She had an obvious distaste for the new employee. I don't know why. I think though it was a mix between all her brothers liked her, the fact that she's afraid Fang might have a thing for her, and the fact that Tyler told me Adeem wanted to meet her.

"I'm not," Lucas told her. Tyler was completely apathetic towards Meredith when he found out that she was a lesbian, a horrible sin in his and Dan's book. Lucas though would not be easily deterred. "Huh, Squid?"

Meredith smiled. "Yeah. You're very nice and cute."

Lucas smiled brightly, continuing to help his sister restock. At first, I was kind of hurt by the fact that he liked Meredith. It was one thing when little boys like little girls, because that's different. Knowing that he was old enough to like Meredith for her…breasts was sad. He was older than I thought.

"What rudimentary adjectives," Tabitha commented. She liked to show off how smart she was when she was around someone that she didn't like.

"Tabitha," I half warned, half yawned. I was sleepy.

Jason and Cody started arguing over something and Tabitha was distracted by correcting them. Sometimes she's a better mom than me. Not a better sleeper though.

* * *

><p>On Friday, Tabitha was suddenly very nervous. She hadn't told Adeem any rules as far as their invention went and she hadn't checked it. So, she was as shocked as anyone when they were at the front of the class and he announced what the invention was.<p>

"Our invention is the Teacherfixer Master," he said, making everyone frowned. 'It fixes shitty teachers, like Mr. Wilson, and turns them better. Who wants to a dickhead for a teacher?"

"What?" Tabitha grabbed his arm, looking hard at him. "What you-"

They were interrupted by the teacher however and sent to the principal's office. As they were waiting to go in, Tabitha could not control her anger.

"Adeem, why would you do that?" She was so close to crying. She was major grounded now. Cursing got you suspended. Suspended got you in grounded. Though she hadn't said the words, they would assume she was the one who wrote on the paper, where he also put the words. "I thought you said that this was my winter gift?"

"It is," he said, frowning at her. "Don't you get it?"

"Get what?"

"I'll be in so much trouble now that they won't let me go to my brother's," he said. "If I told my brother that I just didn't want to go, he'd be angry with me. But now, he'll be fine and I'll be with you, just like you wanted."

She hit him. "You're so stupid!"

He just smiled. "I know."

* * *

><p>Tabitha wasn't suspended. Adeem readily fessed up that he wrote on the paper, not her. So he's suspended from school. Tabitha was still suspended from something though.<p>

"What?"

"That's right," Fang said, nodding his head. "You can't see him anymore."

"Fang-"I started, but he cut me off.

"I'm sorry, Tabitha, but he's not good. Not for you, anyways."

"You can't do that." She looked at me. "Max, don't let him do that."

I looked at Fang before looking back at her. He supported me in all punishments and I was supposed to support him. It was an unspoken rule. "Sorry, T-"

"I love him!"

Fang scoffed at her. "You're eleven."

"So?"

He rolled his eyes. "You're not going to hangout with him anymore. The end, alright?"

"I hate you," she told him. It wasn't a fake, first thing that comes to mind hate you either. "I wish that you would just leave and never come back! I hate you, so much."

Fang was unfazed by this. "You're still not seeing him."

She ran up the stairs, slamming his bedroom door behind her. I stared at Fang, but he wasn't looking at me. He went and sat down on the couch, sighing. I sat down next to him.

"So?"

"What?" He glanced at me. "What do you mean?"

"Fang, you can't be serious."

"And why not, Max?"

"Well…that's like one of her only friends."

He shrugged. 'That's life."

"What if Alex's parents suddenly decided that Tyler wasn't any good?'

"They'd have to be smart before they did that."

I walked up the stairs, going into Tabitha's bedroom. She was laying on her bed, face down, arms crossed above her head.

"Tabitha?" I closed the door before going over to the side of her bed. I tried to put my hand on her back, but she pulled away.

"You're a traitor, Max!" She yelled at me, lifted her head up to stare at me.

"Tabitha, he wasn't serious," I tried, though he had already told me he was. "He was just angry."

"Even if he was, you chose him over me."

"I did not."

"Yes, you did," she said, glaring hard. "You took his side."

"He's my husband, Tabitha."

"So? I hate you too," she said, laying her head back down. "You two deserve each other. You both suck."

"You don't think that maybe, just maybe, your father's right?"

"What?"

"Yeah," I went on, trying to see things from Fang's point of view in the process. "What Adeem did was bad."

"No," she said, still not looking at me. "It was more caring than anything Fang's ever done for you."

Oh, she calls him Fang now? How mature… Wait, what? "What do you mean, Tabitha?"

"He did it so that he would get grounded and not have to go to New York over break."

She had told me about him leaving and how upset she was by it. That still didn't make any sense though.

"Why didn't he just say that he didn't want to go?"

"Because then his brother would think that he didn't love him," she said, her voice muffled by the pillow. "Go away; I don't want to talk to you."

"Hey-"

"I didn't even do anything, Max," she said, lifting her head to look at me once more. "Yet I'm being grounded."

"You are not."

"Yes, I am," she said. "I can't see my boyfriend, but I'm still making better grades than anyone in this house ever has. I do more chores than anyone. I do other people's freaking chores! I do your job for you. What about that?"

"You're talking about totally unrelated things."

"No, I'm not. I do more than any of you in this stupid house and I get punished? Fine. I'm not doing another thing."

"Have fun," I said, rolling my eyes. I went in there to be nice to her and she was jerk. A disrespectful jerk. When did Tabitha become me?

* * *

><p>The first Monday of Christmas break and Tabitha was stuck up at her parent's work. Max and Fang had taken the boys to the movies to go see some stupid cartoon for Lucas's birthday. She was asked to go, but she refused. Max said that she wasn't going to beg her, so fine. Now she was stuck here, with Meredith. Where was Adeem? Flying to New York. Even though he got in trouble, his parents already had his ticket and still let him go. Now she was here, with Meredith.<p>

It should be noted now that Tabitha was allowed to stay home alone. Why wasn't she this time? Her father said that she might call Adeem, so she had to stay here, with stupid Meredith.

"I know that you don't like me."

Tabitha didn't look up. Even though she had sworn off her duties as oldest, boredom had gotten the better of her and she was restocking. "Took you long enough."

"If you think that I'm after your brothers-"

"I don't."

"-or your father-"

"I don't."

"-or even your mother, I'm not. Trust me, I'm not."

"I don't like you because you don't belong here," she said, still not looking up. When her parent's hired Trevor, she knew that it wasn't long term, because he was in high school and about to go off to college. This though, was out right betrayal.

"What do you mean I don't belong here?"

"I mean exactly what I say," Tabitha said, getting up and going to a different part of the bookshelf. "You don't know comics, you don't know anime, you don't know anything about running a store. You just got hired because Max let Fang decide. Sure, Damien was there, but he's a push over. If my dad wasn't such a dick, he wouldn't have hired you. You're nothing, but a slut."

Meredith was appalled that this little girl, this child, would talk to her this way. Then she remembered how she was at eleven and understood. "Look, kid, I'm here because I need a job. So what if my boobs got me the job? It still brings in the cash."

"Then be a hooker. That's all you're really good at, seeing how stupid you are."

"I went to college, for your information."

"Yeah? Big whoop. Stalin went to college."

The older woman shook her head. "You're just a little brat."

"So what if I am? At least I'm not a stupid whore."

Meredith got up and went off into the back, refusing to fight with a child. Tabitha kept restocking. She heard the door open, but didn't look up. She could ring people up, she knew how. She would as soon as the person went to the counter.

"Tabby?"

She turned her head, her mouth suddenly not working. The man smiled at her. He was growing a beard, a really cool one, and his hair was longer, like when she was little, but it was unmistakably him, home to rescue her from this hell she had been sentenced to.

"Luther!" She yelled, running to go give him a hug. Maybe everything would turn out alright. Maybe.


	11. Chapter 11

Broken

Chapter 11

At some point, I think, you have to expect your kids to either runaway or move out before eighteen. It's law of nature. Did I expect that law to take place at eleven? No, but age is just a number, right?

"Fang, are we seriously going to let her do this?"

He shrugged, watching from the hallway as Tabitha packed her bag, planning on moving out…and in with Luther. How did this even happen?

"She'll be back," Fang said, his face as void as when I was pregnant with Lucas. "Just wait."

Tabitha opened her mouth to argue, but quickly shut it. She didn't want to ruin this.

"Tabitha, think about this," I tried. I really didn't want her to leave. Living with Luther spelled trouble, I just knew it. "He left you, twice!"

James wrapped his arms around my leg. "I don't have go, do I?"

"No," Fang said, still watching her. "Neither does she. She's just spoiled rotten and thinks this will get her her way. It won't."

I shook my head. "Tabitha, ignore him. You can see Adeem, okay? You know that there was never really any threat of not seeing him."

She ignored me, pushing past all of us and out of her room. Tyler was in the living room when we got there.

"I'm taking your room," was his form of a goodbye to his sister. "You had better be sure of this, because if you try to come back later, it'll be painted red and mine. Then you'll have to live with Lucas."

"I get my own room out of this?" He was suddenly energetic about the whole thing.

Neo, Jason, Lance, and Chris were having a party in the kitchen with Fox and Snickers. The reason for their celebration? The strictest person in the house was leaving. Who wouldn't rejoice in that? Me.

There was a honk and Tabitha walked out the door, headed to her savior's Ford Explorer, which he had taken back. Damn Luther… You know what really sucks? Luther hadn't even stopped by to see James. Not once. Once a deadbeat, always a deadbeat.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe Fang's letting her do that."<p>

Cameron shrugged, continuing to fold clothes. "I ran away. Of course, I was eighteen. And, duh, it was my boyfriend."

"And look where it got you! He beat you, Cameron."

"What? You think Luther's going to hit her?"

"No," he said, frowning at her. "Still. I'm never letting Sam leave."

"Everyone leaves home eventually, Damien."

"Well, I know," he said, staring at her. "Not at eighteen, necessarily. I lived at home or at least near home for a long time."

She frowned, looking up at him. "I thought that you went to college?"

"I did," Damien said. "I went to one a few towns over."

She rolled her eyes. "You're so stupid."

"Me?"

"Yes, you," she said. "You're not really grown up, not in the technical sense. God, Damien, what are you going to do when your parents die?"

He frowned, this thought never really catching his attention before. "That's a long way away."

"You don't know that."

"Yeah? Well, you don't know that I won't die first."

"Why are you so defensive all of a sudden?"

"I'm not," he said, frowning at her. "You know, he hasn't even gone to see James."

"Leave Luther alone," she said. "You know that he's a jerk. You guys should stop acting so shocked when he does what he always does. It just makes y'all look like idiots."

"Y'all? Thought you lived up North?"

She smiled up at him. "It rubs off on you after awhile."

* * *

><p>"Do you talk to Bone?"<p>

Luther looked up. "Finish putting your stuff in your room?"

Tabitha nodded her head. "Do you?"

"No, not really," Luther told her, continuing to put the groceries away. When Tabitha asked to live with him, he was shocked. He couldn't turn her down, of course. "He doesn't call Max?"

"No. He doesn't call any of us."

He shrugged. "He's had it hard."

"So has Lance."

Luther raised an eyebrow, turning to look at her. She almost sounded…resentful. "Yeah, I guess so. He has your dad and Max, though."

She shrugged, going to help him put stuff away. They had gone shopping, seeing as there was nothing there to eat. "Did you have fun while you were gone, Luther?"

"'Course not. I didn't have you."

She giggled a little, opening the twelve pack of Sprite and pulling one out. "Is James going to live here too?"

"Not unless he wants," Luther told her. "Which he probably doesn't."

"He doesn't," she told him.

"His loss, huh?" Luther said, opening his own soda. "Who needs the others?"

"Not us," she said, smiling at her lost friend. "Hey, Luther?"

"What?" He smiled at her.

"Why didn't you ever call me back? I called you, like, five times since you left."

He just stared at her. "Must have called the wrong number."

She knew she hadn't. She knew, but she still nodded her head, giving him a small, fake, hurting smile. "Must have."

* * *

><p>You'd think with how many kids we have in this house, you wouldn't notice when one was gone. You did though. Maybe that's how it is, though. One time, Tyler told me that he didn't like summer. When I asked why, he looked all confused. Then he told me that it felt wrong, having to leave behind your teachers. Sure, next year, it'd be the same. Same kids, same subjects, just new teachers, new classes. Still, you always wonder if that teacher is thinking about you or if the kid that sits in your seat now is just as obnoxious as you are. I guess that's how it is with Tabitha.<p>

Today was two days since she moved out, which had been the day after Lucas's party, and things just felt wrong. Weird. Nothing was right. I mean, sure, I knew she'd be back. Probably before break was over, but it still just felt weird. It was strangely quiet too. You'd think with their suppressor gone, the boys would act stupider. It was the opposite. Maybe it's just that it's so close to Christmas and they want Santa to bring them gifts. I don't know.

I sighed, staring outside. It was storming, bad. Fang had gone to the airport to pick up Iggy. Gasman wasn't coming. Neither was Angel or Nudge. Drake either. I stared out the window, mostly because I didn't want to watch TV right now. No, it's not the end of the world. The kids are watching Pinocchio right now.

"Wish my daddy comes home," Lance mumbled, staring at the TV. "James daddy did."

"Mine didn't," Neo complained. "Don't he love me, Max?"

I wasn't in the mood, not today. "Lance, you've never even met your dad, so how do you know that you'll like him?"

"He's my daddy," Lance told me, as if I were the stupid one. "Gotta love daddies."

"Yeah," I mumbled as Pinocchio's nose grew. "Gotta love daddies."

"Max!" Tyler called from upstairs. "Come here!"

"No. You come here."

He groaned loudly before coming down the stairs. His hair had grown back out since the whole Mr. T Mohawk fiasco. Right now, he and Alex were straightening it, I think. I frowned, looking at it.

"What did you need?"

"Alex refuses to shave it for me."

"What?"

"See?" She came down the stairs. "I was right for that, right Max?"

"Cut it how?" I asked, frowning.

"He wanted me to Mohawk it for real this time. Like spike it."

He nodded. "She won't do it."

"Good," I said, feeling like he was an idiot for thinking I would feel otherwise.

"Tabitha would have done it," he said, frowning. "I guess she just loves me more than you, Alex."

"Guess so," she said, crossing her arms. I watched as they had a glaring match. Lucas decided then to speak up.

"I'll shave it, if you want," Lucas offered. I almost said no, but then I realized that there was no way Tyler would instill that kind of trust in his younger brother.

"No way," Tyler said, frowning at him.

Told you. It's nice knowing everything…most of the time anyways.

* * *

><p>Christmas was a nonevent this year. Really, everyone was upset. I was mad at Fang for letting Tabitha leave, Neo was upset at his dad for not coming home, James was mad at his for actually coming home, and then there's Tabitha.<p>

She refused to come over for Christmas. Does it not register in her head that if, at any time, we wanted her back in this house we'd drag her ass right back? It must not. Fang and Luther had a huge fight about it, Fang finally hitting his breaking point. And to think, this all started because Adeem did something kind of sweet and thoughtful. It'll all blow over eventually, I guess. At some point, Luther's going to hurt Tabitha, like always, and she'll be running back to us, wanting protection. He'll run off again, leaving behind his son, and his Ford Explorer, which I really want back. I kind of left one of my favorite CDs in it and want it back, but don't want to have to ask for it because that would require talking to him.

I gave Fang a kiss. "Thank you for the necklace."

He shrugged, clearly not in the mood for me. "Yeah, you're welcome."

Lance giggled as he and Chris played with there new toys. The boys were happy today, not even thinking about their sister. Lucas was upset though. Later, when Mom had gone home and it was just me and him in the kitchen, I asked why.

"Well…Adeem gave me my gift."

I frowned. "What gift?"

"'member? I asked him to take Tabitha for Christmas. He kind of did."

In an indirect way, I guess yeah, he did. "Well, shouldn't you be happy then? You got your wish."

"You and Dad are mad though," he said, staring up at me. "I'm sorry."

I gave him a smile. "No one made Tabitha leave, Lucas. She's just being a girl and trying to prove a point. Give a few day or weeks and she'll miss you."

"Me?"

I leaned down and gave him a kiss on the head, something Tyler hated, but Lucas loved still.

"Yes, you," I said, nodding my head a little. "Without you to boss around, her life is going to be a wreck, you just wait."

He giggled. "I guess you're right."

"Good, now go play with those toys that us buying put us in debt."

He ran off to his and Tyler's room, where the PS3 was so that they could play some new game they got. I rolled my eyes, wondering if Tabitha was having a good Christmas. I would call and find out later tonight, but she probably wouldn't talk to me. Which is fine. I was just wondering.

* * *

><p>Tabitha was having Christmas. Just not the way she normally would. That didn't mean it was bad, really. That morning, her and Luther slept in, a cardinal sin in her family, if they were Catholic of course. Or did Christian's have cardinal sins? It didn't matter. Same difference anyways.<p>

Then, around twelve, they woke up and he made her breakfast. They listened to some Christmas music on the radio while he did some paperwork. When she asked him what it was for, he just said that store, even though that wouldn't make sense. Would it? She didn't know if her father ever really did any paper work. When she thought about it though, filling out orders was paperwork.

Now, she was talking to Adeem on Skype. He was telling her all about New York and how great it was.

"I wish I was there with you, instead of here," she said.

"I thought that you liked living with Luther?"

"I do," she said, frowning. "Just not as much as I would like being in New York."

"Well, duh, it's freaking New York."

She laughed. "What else did you do?'

"Well, it wouldn't be a New York experience without going to Ground Zero and thanking Allah for that wonderful success, would it?"

She frowned at him. "See? If you can make jokes about it, then you shouldn't be mad when other people do."

"No," he said, smiling at her. "It's like how blacks can say the n-word and whites can't."

"Which is wrong too."

"You just don't get it."

"I guess I don't."

"I really did see Ground Zero though," he admitted.

"Were you overcome with grief?"

"Not really."

She smiled. "You better shut up about that before Luther comes back. He gets really mad when people make fun of 9/11."

He laughed. "So no Holocaust jokes?"

"No."

"What's the point of tragic things happening in the world if you can't make fun of them?"

"You're so stupid," she said, rolling her eyes. "What's it like staying with your brother?"

"Cool, I guess," he said. "I like his apartment. It's cool. And his two of his band mates live with him. They're cool."

"That's good."

"Yeah." His face suddenly lit up. "Oh, and I got to see a protest!"

"About what?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "My brother says that New Yorkers protest anything. Maybe gay rights, maybe Muslim hate. No difference really."

She smiled again. "We should start a straight rights group."

"Yeah. And we should be pro deathers!"

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

They bother stared at each others, smiling brightly. Then he looked behind him. "My brother's back. We're gonna go somewhere. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

"I love you."

"Yeah, whatever."

He smiled before signing off. The world seemed so much simpler when talking to Adeem. You either hated something or you didn't. They felt the same way about most things, really. Except the fact that he could make jokes about being Muslim. It was so unfair.

* * *

><p><strong>January<strong>

As much as I hate Luther, and I mean I hate him, it was nice to walk into work and hear some weird 90's band playing again. I like it. It brought back…memories. Now, if only I could hear some grunge, I would really go back in time. Bone's long gone now. This town was like his hometown. Here was where something bad happened. Bone would probably never be back and I think I was okay with that. He was just another person to leave a scar. No biggie. I'm more of a solo Diddy fan anyways.

"Hey," Luther said, not looking up. He was texting on his phone. "Got Tabitha to school on time today."

Luther's house was too close for the bus to pick her up, so he had to take her to school and she walked home, with Adeem. They'd hang out at his place, alone. Fang almost died when he found that part out. I had never felt more love for those fucking painkillers in my whole life.

"Good," I said, sitting down. "By the way, you missed Jason's party the other day."

"Got busy," he said, shrugging, still not looking at me. "He doesn't even know me anyways. Trust me, kid'll be fine."

"Trust me, I know."

He frowned, finally looking up. "Hey, I thought that you said we were cool?"

"I said that we were cold. Or that I was cold. Which means that I'm still mad at you."

He shook his head, sighing. "Kids in their slang. So much gets lost in the translation, you know."

"Look, Luther, give me back the Ford Explorer and I'll forget all about how you left my house, _in tears_, because I spurned your advances."

He glared at me. "There were no tears. And you gave me the right to leave, remember?"

"Not that way though!"

He shrugged. "Should have been more clearer."

"I thought I was."

"You know I have a hard head."

"And a hard heart apparently."

"Fine!" He reached into his pocket and sat the key ring on the counter. "Take the stupid car."

"Thank you," I said, no shame in my voice. What? We're still taking care of his kid. Plus, I just really, really love that car.

* * *

><p>Damien was home alone for most of the day. After school, his mom was going to pick up Sam and take her shopping, so he really had no reason to leave the house at all. So, he was spent the day in his art studio. He was so enthralled by his work, he didn't even notice Cameron come in. She stood there, watching him for awhile before going up behind him.<p>

"What are you doing?"

He jumped before turning around. "Why do you always sneak up on me?"

"Why are you so easy to scare?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not."

"Whatever, Scooby Doo."

"I'm not!"

"Okay, okay," she said, looking over his shoulder. He was drawing something. "Where's Samantha?"

"With my mom," he said, going back to his work. It was hard now though. His concentration had been broken. "You need something, Cammie?"

"No," she said, going through his cabinets. "You're running low on paint."

"I'll get some more next time I'm out."

She jumped up onto one of the counters, sitting down. "What do you want to do for dinner?"

"Don't know, don't care."

She frowned. "Are you annoyed with me?"

"No," he said, not looking up. "I was just really focused and you ruined it."

"Sorry."

"It's fine," he said, sighing as she opened a drawer. "What are you doing?"

"What? I can't look through my shed?"

"No, you can. You just never have gone through my stuff before," he said before realizing something. "Stop it, Cameron."

"What?"

"You're looking for your ring."

Busted. "Am not! And so what? Even if I was, it's none of your business."

He got up and went over to her. Cameron jumped down, running to the other side of the shed and opening more drawers and cabinets. Damien came up behind her, smiling as he pulled her to him. Cameron grabbed a bottle of paint off one counter top and popped it open before turning in his arms and squirting it on him. He reached behind them, opening a drawer, and pulling out some charcoal. He rubbed it on her nose, making her screech, pushing away from him while still getting him covered in yellow paint. In the end, they wrecked the place, but they were happy, seated on the floor, Cameron in Damien's lap, laughing as she laid against him.

"I am not cleaning that up."

He just smiled, kissing her head lovingly.

"We'll see."

* * *

><p>"What's this?"<p>

Tabitha looked up. Her and Adeem were alone at Luther's, in the living room. He wasn't home, but that was okay. Another reason she loved living with Luther.

"A ring."

"I know," Adeem said, frowning at her. "But it looks kind of expensive."

She sighed from her spot on the couch. "Bring it here."

He went over to Tabitha and gave her the ring. "Whose do you think it is?"

"I don't know," she said, frowning. "It's a wedding ring, I think."

"Has Luther ever been married?"

"Once, but this is a girl ring."

"How can you tell?"

"For one, it's a lot smaller. Guys have bigger fingers," she said, staring at it. "And guys' just look different."

"I thought that once you're married you get the engagement ring and wedding ring fused so that they're one?" He asked, looking at it too.

"Some people do, some people don't," she said with a shrug. "I've seen this ring before, though."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she said, frowning. "I don't know where though."

"We could just ask Luther," Adeem suggested.

"Then he'll know that you were looking through his stuff."

"Oh yeah."

"I think that we should try and figure this out logically," she said. "Who doesn't have a ring anymore?"

He shrugged. "Hell if I know."

She sighed, putting it in her pocket. "Then we'll keep it until we find out. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

* * *

><p>Fang was slowly coming to terms with the fact that he would have to be the one to make Tabitha come back home. He was still holding out hope though that she would come to her senses and come back on her own.<p>

"Fang," Max sighed in her sleep, rolling over. He ran a hand down her arm before getting out of bed. It was time for his nightly check of the house.

"Daddy?" Neo mumbled as Fang covered his over better. Fang sighed.

"Yes," he said in his best imitation of Gasman. There was a reason Gasman was the imitator of the group. "Now go back to sleep."

Smiling, Neo cuddled into the pillows. He picked up one of Jason's fallen stuffed animals, replacing it at his son's side, before leaving the room and going down the hallway. It was eerily quiet in Cody and James's room. The digital clock made the walls of drawings look creepy in a way, yet also comforting. Bone's ghost might haunt the room, but Damien's good soul seemed to also guard it. Heaven meets Hell and everyone knows that Heaven always wins out.

Next was Tyler and Lucas's room. Here, there was nothing to keep out Bone's spirit. Everyone knew that Bone originally favored Tabitha because she was a girl, but then it became clear that she belonged to Luther, and he transferred his love to Tyler and later Lucas. Every part of them screamed Bone. It was that creepy feeling again, but no comfort. How could one man impact his family that much? It was scary to Fang to think about.

After he was done in there, Fang almost walked into Tabitha's room, but then he remembered she wasn't there. His daughter left him. And for what? The man who left her? If this is a precursor to her dating life, he wanted no part in it.

Off to Chris and Lance's room, on the way refilling the cats water and going out back to check on Tank. When he got to the two youngest room, it was a welcome feeling of all around goodness. True, Lance was Bone's son and in some sort of delusion Chris was his nephew, Bone hadn't had time to imprint on the two boys. They were fine without him. If it had been up to him, Fang would have just told Lance that he was his father, but Max said no. It didn't matter though. Even though Lance was hurt whenever someone brought up the fact that he didn't have a real mommy or daddy, he knew that Fang would always be there for him and so would Max.

Now back to bed, Fang paid careful not to wake his sleeping wife. She always seemed so much happier when she was asleep. Honestly, if you counted out her waking hours and sleeping ones, you'd see that she slept more than anything. It made Fang wonder exactly what it was she was dreaming of. She was rare to tell him. When he was younger, when they were early twenties, he assumed that it was of other men. Now, coming up on ten years of being together again, he wasn't that self absorbed. She probably dreamt about their son, the one that they lost. Kevin was probably her main concern, as he should be. Fang almost felt jealous that she was able to dream about him. Fang had never met the baby and knew nothing about him, really. It wasn't fair. He couldn't ask Max, she'd get upset. Living in wondering was slowly killing him.

"Goodnight, Max," he mumbled, closing his eyes. "I love you."

* * *

><p>A few days later, Damien stopped by Luther's when no one was home. It was early and Tabitha was at school, Luther at work. Perfect time to go get his ring. He had played around with Cameron enough. She had been pretty nice recently. Besides, he was worried about his own health if he kept denying her it. No telling what she'd do to him…<p>

"What?" He searched through the drawer twice. "What?"

His breathing sped up. He must just have the wrong drawer. He checked every single one in the kitchen. Where was it? What the fuck? Damien didn't say that out loud, of course. Oh no. He was close to it though. What the fucking hell happened to his ring? Cameron's ring? He searched the whole house, twice. He almost went out to the pool and drowned himself. It would be easier than when Cameron killed him.

"What the hell am I going to do?" He asked the refrigerator when he made it back to the kitchen. "I am so dead."

The fridge hummed, as if in agreement. He was past dead. He was so far gone that even God couldn't save him now.


	12. Chapter 12

Broken

Chapter 12

I smiled, opening my eyes. "What, Fang?"

He gave me another kiss. "You need to get up."

"Why?" I groaned. With Luther and Meredith around, I should never have to go to work in the morning ever again. "It's only…God, it's already twelve?"

He nodded. "I'm going in for work. The boys are all in the living room."

I whined, frowning at him. "I'm tired, Fang."

He kissed me again. "Come on, Max."

"Wanna carry me?"

"No."

I pushed him away before getting up. I dressed as Fang laid there watching.

"Well, are you coming?" I asked, opening the door. He smiled, getting up and following me out of the bedroom.

"Hi, Mommy," Chris greeted.

"Hi, baby," I said, smiling at him and Lance. They were already dressed and had one of the older kids' old backpacks. "What's in the bag?"

"Toys," Lance told me. "Gonna go work with Fang."

"You are?" I asked Chris.

"Yes," he said, nodding his head.

"What about you two?" I looked at Neo and Jason. They were putting on their shoes. "Where are you going?"

"Grandma gonna take us to the zoo!" Jason said excitedly.

"Gonna see tigers and bears and…bears," Neo said, nodding his head enthusiastically

I frowned. "Fang! I could have stayed in bed."

"Oh, I know," he said, getting all the boys in their jackets. "I just wanted you to suffer a little."

"Fang."

He laughed. "You have to be up to wait for your mom to get Jay and Neo."

"Fine," I groaned. "When will she be here?"

"Soon," he said. "Tell Max bye, Lance and Chris."

"Bye, Max!" Lance said, coming over to me. He made me kiss Wat. "Love you."

"I love you too. And you, Chris."

He smiled. "Bye-bye."

After they left, Neo and James started hounding me to give them cookies.

"Please?" Neo looked at me with sad eyes.

"Please?" Jason mimicked. "Love you."

"That's good," I said. "No cookies though."

They whined until there was knock on the door. Jason opened it. "Granny!"

"Hi, Jason," she said, giving them each a hug. Then she took in the fact that I was lounging on the couch and my hair didn't look combed. "Nice to see some things never change."

I frowned at her. She was mad at me for Fang's decision of letting Tabitha stay with Luther. Me! Why not Fang? He does no wrong, remember? If he cheating was my fault, this clearly had my name written all over it.

"What do you want from me, Mom?"

She stared evenly at me. "When's the last time you took your kids somewhere?"

"Took them to school yesterday." Didn't I? Maybe Fang did. Eh, whatever.

She shook her head. "You've never even taken them to the zoo."

"Sorry if seeing things in cages isn't my idea of fun. You though probably love it."

Neo frowned. "Can we go now?"

She picked up Jason and took Neo's hand before leaving. Good riddance.

* * *

><p>Damien was going out of his mind. What could have happened to his ring? What? It had only been two days, but he had already contemplated suicide a multitude of times. This was not good. In no rhyme or reason was this good.<p>

"What?" Luther answered the door. Then he saw it was his friend. "Hey, Damien. We haven't really hung out since I got back, but-"

"Look, dude, I need to talk to you," Damien said, walking into the house.

"Okay," Luther said with a shrug. "What about?"

"…Have you found something in the house?"

Luther's eyes got big. "Look, man, if this is about the pot-"

"What?" Damien took a step back. "Pot?"

Luther's face flushed. "This isn't about the reefer?"

"What is reefer?"

"Weed, Damien, weed."

He shook his head. This something dawned on his. "You have freaking weed in this house?"

Luther straightened a little. "Well-"

"In a house that you have two eleven, almost twelve year olds in, you also have drugs? Are you crazy?" Damien hissed, looking around. "How do you know that they haven't…?"

"Can Muslims smoke pot?"

"Luther!"

"What, dude? What do you want me to do?" Luther suddenly seemed really paranoid. "You're not going to tell Fang, are you?"

"It depends. Are you going to get rid of the stuff?"

Luther held up on hand. "I'll smoke it all right here in front of you if you want. Scouts honor."

"I want no part in your illegal activities, Luther."

He rolled his eyes. "You're just as much a loser as when we were kids."

"No," Damien said, shaking his head. "I'm an adult, something you'll never be."

"If being an adult means being an uptight bitch like you and your wife, I want no part of it."

"Fuck you," Damien said without thinking. He walked back out of the house, slamming the door in the process. And he still had no idea where his ring was. Great.

* * *

><p>When you're home alone, you're not able to sleep all that well. You'd think that it'd be easier to sleep when all is quiet, but it's not. I need the kids annoying me to fall asleep. I need to hear the sound of some stupid old Disney movie in the background as I drift off. Maybe that's just the price of being a mother. Or I could just be crazy. Take your pick. Either way, I couldn't sleep.<p>

So, I decided to clean up all the boys' rooms. You would be shocked at all the trash and old, half eaten food I found. Boys are dirty. Anyways, I was going through Tyler and Lucas's room, which was by far the worst, when I found _it_. It was under Lucas's bed, but it was surely Tyler's. Lucas was too young for it, but I was going to pretend that Tyler was too young for it too.

"What?" Fang answered his phone, clearly not thrilled to be hearing from me. "I'm kind of busy."

"Guess what I found today."

"Um…was Lucas keeping dead bugs in his bed again?"

"No," I said. "I found…a magazine."

He groaned. "Please tell me one of the boys aren't reading one of Tabitha's magazines. I can't deal with gay today."

"Fang, Tyler has a porn magazine."

He choked before laughed.

"That's not funny!"

"Are you touching it?"

"I picked it up, yeah."

"I would put it down," he said, still laughing.

"Fang, stop. Did you give it to him?"

He sobered. "No, I didn't."

"Then where did he get it?"

"Gasman used to stay here, Iggy was recently here, he's always over at Alex's house and she has a bunch of older brothers. Come on, Max, the options are endless," Fang said.

"Well, are you going to talk to him about it?"

"What's there to talk about? I'm just glad that he's not gay."

I huffed. "Fang, I don't want this kind of stuff in my house."

"Then throw it away."

"He'll just get more."

Fang sighed loudly. "Max, he's either going to use that or do it without it. He's a boy. Let him be a boy."

I rolled my eyes. "So when Tabitha starts having sex, I just give her condemns and say girls will be girls?"

"No. That's called being a slut."

"Fang."

"Max, he's going to do it either way," he said. "I did it. Iggy did it. Gasman probably still does it. Just pretend like you didn't find it."

"I can't unknow something!"

"And whose fault is that? You shouldn't have been snooping."

"I wasn't," I hissed. "I was cleaning up their room and it was under Lucas's bed," I said. "What do him and Lucas do, Fang?"

"What do you mean?"

"If Tyler's doing that, what is Lucas doing?"

"I don't know. Either asleep or just pretending not to notice. You're assuming that he does it in his bedroom. There such thing as the bathroom. Shower, Max."

"Ew! Fang, stop."

Fang seemed unaffected by this. "Max, you can freak out now, but pretty soon, you'll be dealing with a lot worse."

"What do you mean?"

"Tyler's just one boy. The younger kids, though, they all are just a year apart or two. They'll all go through this at the same time."

I groaned. "Just make him get rid of the magazine."

"I'll think about it," Fang said.

"I'm serious. You do or I do."

"Max, if you do you'll scar him."

"Good."

* * *

><p>After school, Tabitha and Adeem walked over to Luther's, like always. They got something to eat before going to her room, not having to worry about anyone yelling at them for being alone. Luther said that he trusted them and, even if they did do anything, nothing could be worse than anything he used to do. It was nice to be trusted.<p>

"What do you want to do?" Tabitha asked as they laid down on her bed.

"I don't know," he said, reaching over her to turn on the TV. He put it on Tosh.0 before moving on the bed so that his face was against the side of her head, their new normal laying position.

They were laying there for awhile, watching Comedy Central, when Adeem suddenly leaned down way too close.

"What are you doing?" She whispered, though they were alone.

"I'm going to kiss you."

"Watching some guy pee in his mouth makes you want to kiss me?"

He shrugged. "I guess."

She smiled a little. "I said a year."

"It is next year, technically."

"Technically," she agreed as he leaned down the rest of the way and kissed her. It wasn't great, like what she thought it always would be. It just wasn't as awkward as you'd think. It was still kind of nice, better than the time before. Way better.

He smiled, moving away from her. "See? Told you it was you."

"No," she said, pushing him. They laughed before looking back at the TV.

* * *

><p>"Hi, M-"<p>

"Don't talk to me."

Tyler frowned. "Why not?"

"Because…just don't."

"What did I do?" He asked, frowning.

I looked at Lucas. "You two need to clean your room."

"Why?" Lucas asked.

"Under your beds are filthy."

Lucas's eyes widened. "You found it?"

I frowned, glancing at Tyler. He still looked confused. "Found what?"

"That thing that I got," he said, frowning. "I thought it was cool."

"Lucas-"

"What was it?" Tyler asked, looking at his younger brother.

"It had all these girls in it. They didn't have any clothes on!"

Oh my God. "Lucas, where did you get it?"

"From John. He said that he got it from his older brother," Lucas said. "Don't you think that it's funny to look at?"

I groaned. "No, it's not. You can't look at it anymore."

"Fine," he said before running off up the stairs. Tyler frowned at me before following him. Oops.

* * *

><p>"Thanks," Tyler told Lucas when they got back to their own room.<p>

Lucas shrugged before going to get in his bed. He checked to see if his mom found his dead bugs. She hadn't. "What do you do with it anyways?"

"Nothing," Tyler said. "Thanks, though."

"Whatever," Lucas said. He actually thought that magazine was nasty. Who wanted to look at girls naked? Ew. "Can you help me with my math homework?"

"I'm not good at that kind of stuff."

The younger boy frowned. "I know. I miss Tabitha."

"Shut up, okay?" Tyler laid down on his bed. "Just shut up.

* * *

><p>A few days later, Cameron was driving down the road, on the way home from work, when she saw Tabitha and Adeem walking home. Sighing, she pulled over.<p>

"You guys want a ride?" She asked them. They gratefully got into the car. Adeem started to get in the passenger seat, but Tabitha pushed him away, pointing to the back. Cameron smiled, noticing this.

"What's that?" Cameron asked, glancing at Tabitha's hand. "Oh my God!"

"What?" Tabitha said. Then she realized what she was talking about. "Oh this? I found it. I figured that it was alright if I wore it. That way, the owner would see me with it and take it."

"It's mine, Tabitha," Cameron said, holding out one hand. Reluctantly, she put the ring in the rightful owner's hand.

"Why was it at Luther's house?"

Cameron shook her head. "Because I have a stupid husband."

"He lost your ring?" Adeem asked from the back. His father never sat in the back for his mother and would probably look down on Adeem for doing so, but he didn't care.

"Yes," she said. "After he stole it from me," she said, pulling up to Luther's house. "You guys will be okay home alone?"

"Yeah," Tabitha said, getting out of the car. "Bye, Cameron. Thanks."

"Yeah, thanks," Adeem agreed, getting out too.

"Bye," she said, waiting for them to get safely into the house before leaving. Damien was so dead when she got home.

* * *

><p>Fang and I were in bed, napping when someone woke us up. Fang had just gotten back from picking the kids up from school and was not very happy about this interruption in our sleep.<p>

"What?" He asked grumpily. "What do you want, Lance?"

"I'm scared," he said, crawling into bed.

"Of what?" I asked as Chris came into the room and got into bed too.

"Thunder," he said.

"Is it raining?" I asked Fang. He nodded a little, pulling Lance to him. "Was misting when I left to pick the boys up."

I gave Chris a kiss on the head. "You guys want to nap with us?"

They both nodded, getting under the covers. I slept for awhile before getting up and leaving the three sleepers to themselves. I went to check on the other boys. Lucas and Tyler were watching TV in the living room while Neo and Jason played with their toys.

"Buzz says hi," Neo told me.

"Well, hi, cowboy."

"Buzz is a space ranger."

"Whatever."

Tyler laughed. "Max, I let Tank in."

"Good," I said, looking out the window. It was coming down hard. "Where is he?"

"In the kitchen, asleep."

I nodded before going in there. The queen of the house, Snickers, was on the kitchen table, watching her temporary housemate from a safe distance. I smiled at her, though she hated me and I her. We had to be pleasant to each other though. We both meant too much to Tyler to fight.

"How ya doing, Tank?" I asked the big beast. He groaned. He hadn't felt well recently. I think that he's depressed about Tabitha being gone. I was giving him a belly rub when Fang came into the kitchen.

"Hey, baby," he greeted, immediately going to the fridge. "You got work in an hour."

"You're gonna make me go when it's raining?"

"Tell you what," he offered. "If it's still raining in one hour, I'll go without watching Naruto for the day."

"What about work?"

"Oh, you're still going."

"You suck."

"Only for you, baby."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Cammie," Damien greeted as she came into the house.<p>

"Hi," she said, walking over to him and giving him a kiss. Bubba groaned from somewhere in the house as Cameron pulled away and asked her husband if he noticed something different about her.

Crap. "Uh…did you get a hair cut?"

"No."

"Your nails done?"

"Close."

"Um…" He looked down at her hand. "Where did you find your-"

"Tabitha."

The spoiled little brat. "How did she get it?"

"Not important," Cameron said before going to the bottom of the stairs. "Come here, Samantha."

"Cameron-" Damien tried, but she held up her hand, silencing him.

"What?"

"Give me my necklace back."

"What?" Sam looked at her father. "Daddy-"

"Cameron, you can't make her give that back."

She ignored him. "Now, Samantha."

Crying, she handed it over. Cameron just rolled her eyes, walking away from the stairs and into kitchen. "Consider that pay back, Damien."

He just sat there, frowning. Why did Cameron always have to be such a bad word?

* * *

><p><strong>February<strong>

"So…?"

Fang sighed. "I just think that it's time to make her come back."

I shrugged. "Look, Fang, I want her back home as much as you do. It's the 10th right now, right? Give her till her birthday. If she's not back by then, we'll go over there and get her."

He shook his head, rolling over in bed. "Whatever."

I moved closer to him. It was about two in the morning, but neither of us could sleep. "Wanna cuddle?"

"Not really."

"Oh."

He sighed, pulling me to him. "Don't be mad at me. I'm just not feeling cuddly."

"What do you call this?"

"Sacrifice," he muttered. "You got morning shift today."

"Fun."

"Don't sound too thrilled."

"Trust me, I couldn't if I tried."

Fang smiled at me. "I'm thinking about growing out my hair."

"You couldn't if you wanted too."

He frowned. "What are you trying to say?"

"You're done growing," I told him. "All of you is done growing."

"Maybe it's because parts of me have gotten as long and big as they need to."

I just started humming to myself. Fang opened his mouth to say something else, but Chris's crying from the other room stopped him. Groaning, Fang got up and went to get him. When he came back, he had Lance too.

"The boys want to sleep in here," he said, laying them down. He left and came back with Neo and Jason this time. "Them too."

I shook my head as all the boys situated their stuffed animals and got under the covers. I had Neo closes to me.

"Ow," I said ten minutes later. "Neo, why did you bring Buzz with you? He's a toy, not a stuffed animal."

"He's my best friend."

"Me," Jason complained.

"Sam?" Lance asked.

"You're cool and everything, Jason, but you're not that great," Neo said, shaking his head. "And Sam is my girlfriend."

"So?" Fang yawned. "Max is my best friend."

"Really?" Lance looked at me. "Fang your best friend?"

I snorted. "No way. I am my own best friend."

"Deep," Neo said, Jason nodding his head.

Fang rolled his eyes. "Max is lying, boys. She loves me."

"Doesn't mean I want to be your friend," I told him. "I love chocolate. I didn't freaking marry it."

"That's only because it said no."

"Well, it was only a rebound, really. You know that I was in love with fries."

"Everyone is," Fang said. "My first time was with a fry."

I laughed at that one. The boys didn't get it, obviously, so they got bored and finally settled down to sleep. Fang and I were quiet for awhile, wanting them to sleep. After a few minutes though, he spoke again.

"Sorry I ruined our cuddling," he said.

"It's okay," I forgave him. "I like Buzz and Neo better anyways."

* * *

><p>School was boring that day. Adeem was grounded, so he couldn't come over. Luther had told her that he wouldn't be back until late, that she could just make a TV dinner for supper. It was so quiet in the house. No way was it ever quiet at her old house. She went to bed early that night, having no need to stay up. There was no Neo to tell to settle down, no James to console, no Tyler to talk out of some stupid idea, no Lucas to boss around, no Jason to teach how to do something, and definitely no Chris and Lance to tell a story to. She was alone here, that was for sure.<p>

Something woke her up around one in the morning. Tabitha glanced at the clock before slowly getting out of bed.

"Luther?" She whispered as she opened her bedroom door. Getting no response, she went down the hallway to his bedroom. She opened the door. The second her mind registered with was going on, she slammed the door shut again.

"Damn it, Tabitha," Luther yelled.

"Tabitha?"

Was that… Ew! She ran back to her room, closing a locking the door behind her. Luther and…really? God. It made her stomach sick. Twenty minutes later, the woman had left the house and Luther was banging on her bedroom door.

"Open up, Tabs."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because…Why her, Luther?"

"What do you mean why her?" He asked, not getting the question.

"Meredith? Really? And I thought that she was a lesbian?"

He sighed. "Just let me in."

"No!"

"Tabitha, come on," he pleaded. "Why are you so upset?"

Because…because…why was she upset? "I don't like Meredith."

"You don't have to," he said. "One time thing, I promise."

She shook her head regardless of the fact that he couldn't see. "Still, Luther. Why do you have to fuck everything?"

"Hey, watch your mouth."

"And watch your bed."

If this is what having a child was like, he was glad that he gave his rights to Max and Fang. "Look, you can't talk to me that way."

"Why not?"

"Because…why are you mad at me? You know that I…it's not like I…"

"Max says that guys that sleep around a lot and never have a stable relationship are probably gay."

"What does she know?"

"Everything."

"Everything, huh?" He laughed. "Wasn't she the one that banned you from seeing Adeem? Huh?"

"That was different!"

"How? Because you didn't get your way that time?"

Yes. Duh. "No."

"Look, Tabby, just open the door and we'll talk. Promise."

"About what? I don't want to talk to you about sex."

He chocked, never wanting to hear that word come out of her mouth. "Not about that, Tabs. Never about that."

"Good."

"Very good," he agreed, sighing. "So are we okay?"

"No."

"Tabitha."

"You shouldn't have slept with her," Tabitha said.

"Well, I technically didn't," he said. "I didn't exactly…never mind."

Ew! She closed her eyes tight. "I'm moving back home tomorrow."

What? "Tabitha, no."

"Yes," she said.

"Over this? Really?"

This compacted with the fact that she missed home. She missed having her dad tell her what to do, having Max defend her to her father, sneaking Adeem into her room when her dad confined them to the living room. She missed having Max making her nasty food and getting mad when she pointed it out. She missed her brothers and her pets and her Max and, most importantly, her daddy.

"Yeah," she said. "All because of this."

* * *

><p>The next day, I was getting ready for work when there was a knock on the door. Fang was in the living room.<p>

"Gonna get that?" I asked, coming into the room. He just grunted, not looking away from the tornado coverage. Sighing, I opened it.

"Max!" Tabitha hugged me. I frowned, looking down at her.

"What are you doing here, baby?" I asked, hugging her back.

"I want to come home."

"Okay," I said, looking behind her. Luther had already driven away. He was no doubt upset by this.

"Tabitha," Fang started, standing up. She pushed me away and ran to go hug him. He was shocked, but patted her on the back. "I'm glad that you're back and stuff, but you're in trouble."

"Okay."

"You left, you know."

"I know."

"You're grounded."

"That's fine."

He glanced down at her. "Really?"

"Really."

"You still can't see Adeem."

"Whatever."

Fang cleared his throat as she stopped hugging him. "This is still my house."

"Okay."

"Now go to your room."

She ran off, up the stairs. Fang looked at me, frowning when he saw me trying to hide my smile.

"What?" He asked.

"You sure showed her."

"Shut up."

I went over to him and hugged him hard. "Told you to just let her come home on her own."

"You didn't even want her to leave."

"Well, of course not," I said, looking up at him. "And Adeem can come over."

He sighed. "I know. I just don't like admitting that I was wrong."

"Is she really grounded?" I asked, running my hands down from his chest and to his hands, which I held.

"No, Max."

"Good," I said, smiling. "Now you want to go into work for me?"

He kissed me on the head. "Never."


	13. Chapter 13

Broken

Chapter 13

**March**

"I think that you and Adeem should breakup."

Tabitha didn't look up. "Why, Lucas?"

"He's mean."

"What did he do?"

Lucas closed her bedroom door behind him. "He called me stupid."

"When?"

"When I didn't understand the brown chicken brown cow joke."

"That was Tyler, Lucas."

"…He's just not good."

"What else does he do?"

"He's just mean."

"Well," she said, looking up. "I guess maybe you should learn to be quiet. I'm not breaking up with him for you."

"Why not? Do you…love him?"

"Adeem!"

The bedroom door opened. Lucas shrugged. "I tried."

"Yeah, I know," Adeem said.

"My money?" Lucas prompted. Adeem reached into his pocket and gave him a twenty. Happy, Lucas skipped out of the room.

"You paid him to get me to say that I love you?"

Adeem shrugged. "Wasn't my money anyways."

She sighed as he got into the bed. "You owe me a twenty."

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

><p>"I like your hair, Max," Lance told me.<p>

"Yes," Chris agreed.

"Thank you," I said, closing the front door behind me. Fang looked over from the chair.

"Shorter?"

"Yeah."

He frowned. "Come here."

I went over to him and Fang pulled me into his lap. He smelled my hair before running a hand through it. "I guess I like it. Kind of."

"Fang."

He gave me a kiss. "You like it, Neo?"

He nodded from the couch. "Pretty."

"Can't say pretty," Jason said. "Neo's a girl."

"No!"

Fang sighed, laying his head against me. "I love you, Max."

"I love you too," I said, kissing him before getting up and walking up the stairs. I went into Tyler and Lucas's room.

Tyler was reading a comic and Lucas was holding a twenty in the air, laughing as he looked at it.

"Do you guys notice anything different?"

Tyler frowned, looking up. "Are you pregnant again?"

"No! Why?" I looked down at myself. "Do I look pregnant?"

"Did you get a new face?" Lucas asked, not looking away from his money. "I saw that once. It was cool."

"No, Lucas," I said, frowning at him. "Where did you get that money?"

"Where did you get your new face?"

"I swear to God," I mumbled, shaking my head. "Why do you have to be such a brat, Lucas?"

"Dad! Mommy called me a brat," he yelled, getting up and running out of the room.

"And a nark," I mumbled before looking at Tyler. "You really don't know what's different?"

"No."

"I changed my hair color and got it shortened."

He blinked. "Sure you're not pregnant?"

"Fang!" I yelled. "Tyler called me fat!"

"Nark," he mumbled as I walked out of the room.

* * *

><p>Damien was sleeping, his face pressed into the pillow. Today was Saturday and he was off. Cameron was too, so that meant he shouldn't have to worry about Samantha, right? Right?<p>

"Daddy?"

He grunted. Last night, Macho Man died. Cameron asked him if he meant the horse and they fought. How could she not know about Randy Savage? Anyways, he spent the night in the living room, looking up videos of his fallen hero on the internet.

"Wanna play with me?"

He just grunted again. Not used to this kind of treatment, from her father at least, Samantha pushed his head.

"Wake up!"

"Sam, leave him alone," Cameron said, coming into the room. "He's being a baby because some horse died."

"He was not a horse!" Damien lifted up his head. "He was a legend!"

"In a fake event?"

Glaring hard at his wife, he said, "At least you know he's fake. Unlike those stupid shows you watch. Those stupid pop songs that are all made using auto tune. He was a hero. You don't even know."

"Whatever," she said, walking into the bathroom. "I still would be more upset if the horse died."

She slammed the door and Damien slammed his head back down. Samantha crawled into bed with him.

"I'm sorry that your friend died, Daddy," she said, cuddling against him.

"It's okay," he mumbled. "He didn't even know me."

She ran a hand down his head, trying to comfort him as best she could. She had never really consoled someone, so it was kind of weird. "I love you."

He smiled, turning to face her. "I love you too, Sam."

* * *

><p>"Wanna…cuddle?"<p>

"What?"

Adeem nodded. "Yeah."

Today was Sunday and they were at his house, lounging on his bed. Tabitha was confused by his question. "Aren't we?"

He frowned at her. "We're not even touching."

"Sure we are," she said. "Your leg is touching mine."

"Ooh, let me go beg for forgiveness."

"What more do you want?" She asked, starting to get annoyed.

"I don't know," he said, moving to face her. "It was just a question.'

"A stupid one."

He sighed, looking back at the TV. "What are we doing this week?"

"Don't you have track practice after school tomorrow?"

"All week."

"Can't we hangout Friday after school?"

"I'm going to the mosque."

She groaned. "You don't even believe in that stuff."

"Yes, I do."

"No. You've said it yourself before."

He blew on her face, which always made her push him away. "You're kind of being a bitch right now."

"Rules."

"I didn't call you a bitch, necessarily," he said. "I just said that you're kind of a bitch."

"Isn't cursing, like, against your religion or something?"

"Isn't dating me against yours?"

"I don't have a religion," she said, pushing his hand away when he tried to lay it on her stomach. "If I did, though, no. Not that I know of anyways."

He smiled. "So…you love me, huh?"

"No."

"You know that you do."

"I really, really don't."

"Sure you don't, Tabby."

She frowned at him. "Anyways-"

"Why are you changing the subject?"

Rolling her eyes, she put her back to him, feigning like she was now watching the television.

* * *

><p>Meredith was at work with me today. Ugh. It's not that I hated her, per say, but I wasn't fond of her either. I mean, she had slept with Luther after telling me she was a lesbian, so that put my jealous-dar way up. Not of Luther, of course, but of Fang. You just don't turn straight again, do you?<p>

"Hi," she said as I walked in. "You're late."

I snorted. "Yeah?"

"Yes."

"Remind me when I start caring, alright?" I sat down next to her.

"What's your issue?"

"Issue?" I laid my head down on the counter. "Got none. Is Luther here?"

"No."

"You should go to inventory," I told her.

I felt her look at me. "You know that you're not my boss, right?"

I smiled, though she couldn't see it. "And you know that if I want, I'll have you fired right this second."

"How?"

"I don't know if you noticed, but Luther and Fang follow my leads. What I say is law," I told her, shrugging. "Go do inventory."

She seemed to weigh her options before going off to do my bidding. It's nice having your own bitch.

* * *

><p>Fang was stretched out on the floor, his shirt off.<p>

"Looks bad," Jason mumbled, running a plastic stethoscope across his father's chest. "Breathe deep."

Fang took in a deep breath. "Well?"

"Thinks you gonna die," Jason gave his grim analysis.

"No," Neo said, sticking a fake thermometer in Fang's mouth. "You're gonna live to be…twenty five billion."

Sam giggled at her boyfriend. "That's not a number."

"Shut up, Samantha," he growled. Today, they had already had, like, a million fights. She thought that she was smarter than him because she was older. "You're so stupid. Just shut up!"

He turned to hit her, but Jason pushed Neo down.

"You can't hit a girl!" Jason yelled. "Right, Fang?"

Fang sighed, sitting up. He was letting the kids play examine him for fun, but it wasn't going so well anymore.

"Neo, you're in trouble. Go to your room."

"Why?" He asked, frowning.

"You were rude," Fang said. Pointing, he repeated his order.

"I hate you, Sam! I'm not your boyfriend anymore," Neo yelled, running up the stairs. Sam started crying, making James mad at Neo and Cody mad at Sam, having just wanted peace and quiet all along.

"Don't cry, Sam," James said. "If you want, seein' as I'm your cousin and all, I could beat him up."

"Shush, James," Fang said, standing. He pulled on a shirt before looking at Samantha. "Don't cry, Samantha. Please don't. I don't like crying."

She sniffled, rubbing at her eyes. "I loved him!"

Cody rolled his eyes. "Just be quiet and Jason will be your boyfriend."

"Yep," Jason said, nodding.

"No," she said, getting up. "I want my daddy."

"No, you don't," Fang said, really wishing that Max was home so that she could deal with the girl. "Jason's a good…look, you don't really need a boyfriend anyways."

"I don't?"

"No," he said. "Look at your mommy and daddy. They love each other…kind of…and they didn't even know each other at five. Just don't worry about that stuff."

Samantha sniffled loudly. "It's okay. Neo's not as cute as Justin Bieber."

"Who's that?" Jason asked, slightly hurt by her rejection, but also a little relieved. From the looks of it, being in a relationship was a lot of work. And with such an older woman, he wasn't sure if he could have handled it.

"Sings," Lance said. "Like Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!"

"That's a baby song," Sam said. "He's sings…the ABC's at least."

Cody groaned. "Why do you all have to talk so much?"

Fang frowned at him. "You do have a room, you know."

"I know, but I don't wanna walk up the stairs," he said. James shook his head.

"Stop being mean," he told his friend.

"I'm not! They're being mean by being so loud."

Chris put his hands on Fang's stomach, trying to push him back down. Sighing, Fang laid back on the ground. Chris put his hands up Fang's shirt, wanting it off. Again, Fang groaned before pushing it off. He didn't want to play doctor anymore, but Chris wanted his turn to diagnose him.

"Here," Lance said, handing Chris a toy car. Chris laid it on Fang's chest, staring intently at the toy.

"Well?" Fang asked Chris. He just smiled and began to laugh.

"Daddy!"

"Chris, you have to tell him what's wrong," Jason said.

"Daddy," Chris repeated, holding out his hands. Fang pulled him up onto his chest. "Love Daddy."

"I love you too," Fang said, giving him a kiss. Chris smiled brightly, wrapping his arms around Fang's neck. The other could predict Fang's death all they wanted. As long as he was there to still give Fang kisses, everything would be alright with Chris.

* * *

><p>I picked up Tabitha on my way home from work. She was happy about something her and Adeem did, but I didn't ask what and she offered up no explanations.<p>

"Hey, Max," Fang said as I walked into the house.

"Hey, baby," I said, smiling at him. "What time is it?"

"Around six," he said. "I already fed the kids. Tabitha, your foods in the kitchen. Put it in the microwave."

She went off to go eat. I sat down on the couch.

"Where are all the boys?"

"I put them to bed early."

"Why?"

Fang sighed. "Neo was being bad all day, Lance was sleepy, Chris was cranky, and Jason said that he didn't feel all that well."

"What about the other four?"

"They're all in their rooms."

I glanced over at him. He was in his chair, too far away to lean against. "Wanna come over here?"

"No. You come over here."

"I don't wanna sit in your lap," I whined, laying down on the couch.

"Why not?"

"Your knees dig into my butt."

"Ew," Tabitha said, coming out of the kitchen. She walked up the stairs with her food. Fang smiled a little.

"What if I sit in your lap?"

"No, thanks," I said.

"Your loss," he said, shrugging a little. "I hear I give great lap dances."

"Whatever, Mr. Unfaithful."

He paused. "It was a joke, Max."

"I was joking too."

"Right."

"I am right, thank you."

He sighed, getting up. "Well, I'll be in the bedroom. You can join me if you want."

"I'm good."

"Max."

Groaning, I got up and followed him to the bedroom, stopping to check on Lance and Chris on the way. When we got to our room, I laid down in Fang's spot.

"Up," he ordered. "I mean it."

"No," I said, burying my head in his pillow. It smelled just like him and I loved it. "Your side is more comfortable."

"Since when?"

"Since I realized this annoys you."

"Figures," he sighed, laying in my normal spot. "Now I have your germs."

"You know you like it."

"You know I know I like it."

"I know you know I know you like it."

He smelled my pillow, making me smile a little. "I want to watch Nemo."

"What's that?" I asked.

"The fish, Max."

"Why?"

"I don't know. The boys have been on a Cars kick recently and I miss the fish."

I rolled onto my back. "Maybe we should get a fish."

"We barely take care of our other three animals," he said. "And, plus, if it dies, Lucas will try to keep it in his bed."

I sighed. "Did you make him get rid of those dead bugs yet?"

"I tell him too, but I don't think he listens too well."

"What does he do with them anyways?" I asked.

"Hell if I know."

* * *

><p>"Where's Max?" Neo whispered to Jason. "Jay?"<p>

"Heard her come home," he mumbled against his pillow. "I'm sleepy."

Neo turned in his bed. "Were you really gonna take Sam from me?"

"Nah," he said, shaking his hurting head. "Don't like her that much."

"I'm glad we broke up," Neo said. "She's mean."

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "Mean."

"Jay?"

"Hmmm?"

"'sides Buzz, you're my bestest friend."

He smiled a little. "Besides Mommy, you're mine."

"Yeah," Neo said, closing his eyes.

"Now, night-night," Jason said. "Sleepy."

"Night, Jason," Neo yawned. Best friends…God he loved Buzz.

While they were going to sleep, Tyler and Lucas were wide awake.

"I don't believe in ghosts," Tyler whispered. "I believe in God."

"Me too," Lucas whispered, though that was kind of a lie. How was he supposed to know that God wasn't just a ghost himself? Huh? Huh? Whenever he asked, he was told to stop fooling around, that religion wasn't a joke. It was an honest question though.

"Alex though…she believes in them," Tyler said, rolling over. "That's 'cause she believes in purgatory, though, I guess."

"That haunted house they have on Halloween?"

"No, Lucas. Purgatory is where Catholics think you go when you die or something…like a holding cell."

"Being Catholic seems scary," Lucas said. "I heard Luther say one time that Catholic priests aren't allowed to have wives so they just use little boys instead."

Tyler frowned. "_Anyways_, I don't think that our room is haunted."

"Then what are those noises every night? Huh? Can't be Mom and Dad. They're way too far downstairs. Everyone else is in bed," Lucas reasoned. "Besides, it's not our room. It's the attic."

"Shhh!" Tyler frowned at him. "They can hear you!"

"Thought you said you didn't believe in ghosts?"

Tyler said nothing, just stared up at the ceiling. As if like clock work, about two hours later, noises could be heard above their heads, coming from the attic. They would have known if it was their father. He always came in to check on them if he was upstairs, plus they would have heard his footsteps. No, this was definitely a demonic force of some kind. That much Tyler knew, even if he didn't want to admit it to his younger brother. He had to look like the man of the room, after all.

"Shhh," Cody hissed to James as they went through Fang's box of action figures. "Someone might hear us."

For the past month, late at night, the two would sneak off into the attic when the rest of the house was in bed and play with the forbidden toys. A few times they were almost caught by Fang as he made his nightly check, but so far so good.

"Don't think I know that?" James pulled out Juggernaut. "Fine Prof. X."

They continued digging through boxes and looking at comics well into the night, knowing that in the morning they would be tired from it. Unbeknownst to them, Tyler and Lucas weren't the only ones that they kept up.

Tabitha sighed as she heard her brother walking around in the attic. They thought that they were sneaky, doing that, but they really weren't. She knew that it was James and Cody. Neo and Jason were afraid of the dark, reason why they slept with a nightlight, and Tyler and Lucas weren't that great of friends, so they would have started an argument by now and begun to yell. Yes, it was for sure Cody and James.

"Wish they'd keep it down," she mumbled as she watched her TV. "Stupid boys."

Cody and James acted like they were phantoms of the house or something. Like people can't freaking hear their stomping feet... And not to be mean to Cody or anything, he was her brother after all, but he was kind of bigger. Of course, no one else could say that. In the words of Kelly Gordon himself, 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother.' And damn sure if she was going to let anyone forget that.

* * *

><p>I yawned, cuddling against Fang. ."Fang?"<p>

He grunted.

"Shouldn't we take the kids to school now?"

"Already did."

"Really?" I looked over his shoulder. "Oh, it's already ten?"

He grunted.

"Where are the little boys?"

"Neo and Jay are with Damien and Lance and Chris are with your mom."

"Really?" I perked up. "We're home alone?"

Again, he just grunted.

"Wanna have sex?"

Suddenly, he was wide awake. Fang pushed me onto my back, getting over me.

"'course," he mumbled, kissing my neck. About an hour later, I was in the living room, watching TV, as Fang made us a late breakfast.

"What's on?" He asked, coming into the room with the food. He handed me a plate before going to sit down in his chair. "Eat it all, Max."

I groaned. "You treat me like a kid."

"Only because you act like one."

"You sure were screwing this kid in the bedroom a few minutes ago."

He sighed. "Why do you have to talk so dirty?"

"That was not dirty," I defended. "Perfectly clean, really. Didn't say fuck, did I?"

"No," he sighed. "I guess I should give you that, huh?"

"Yes."

"Well, fine," he said, beginning to eat. "Just eat, please."

I ate most of it…okay some of it, and threw the rest away. "Fang, my stomach hurts. Wanna come get in bed with me?"

"And have sex again?"

"No."

"Then no, not really."

"Fang."

Groaning, he grumbled under his breath, but still followed faithfully. When we got into bed, he immediately pulled me to him.

"Can I put the game on?" He asked.

"Fang-"

"It's March Madness, Max."

I let him put the basketball game on, not really caring that much anyways. I mean, it's not everyday that we can spend so much time together, much less have great sex. I was just happy that we were both happy, even if Fang had finished a little early. No need to hurt his pride, right?

* * *

><p><strong>May<strong>

"What's wrong?"

Cameron sighed. "Nothing, Damien."

"Clearly something is," he said, pulling on his jeans. He was getting ready to leave to go run errands. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No," she said, turning over in bed. "You need to pick up Sam. Don't forget."

"I won't," he said, frowning in the mirror. "I would never forget my baby."

Cameron pulled the blankets up around her. "Of course you wouldn't."

"Hey, Cammie?"

"Hmmm?"

"…Ever think about having another baby?"

"It's not like we're using protection or something, Damien," she said, rolling her eyes. "If it happens, it happens. I'm not praying for it or anything."

"And why not?" He pulled on a shirt. "I think that it would be great to have another kid."

"It might come out like Samantha."

"Cameron," he groaned. "Samantha is a wonderful child. Best one ever."

"Hmmm."

"She is!" Damien got very mad. "I love her, you know."

"I know."

"Then maybe you should lay off," he said, pulling on his jacket.

"Baby, it's hot," Cameron said. "Take off the jacket."

"No," he said, going to put on his shoes. "You want to come with me?"

"No," she sighed, pulling the blankets up around her more. "See you later, Damien."

He gave her a kiss before leaving. His first stop?

"Hi," Meredith greeted as Damien walked into Anime Any Day.

Damien faltered. "Uh…hi. Is Luther here? Max?"

"Nope," she said, shaking her head. "Not even Fang."

Great… It's not that Damien didn't like Meredith, it was just that she was a new person and he was nervous around her. "Um…do you have my order?"

"I'll go look," she said, getting up and walking off to the back. Damien sighed, going over to the bin of plushies. He always picked up a few for Bubba to chew on. Bones hurt his teeth, so these were the next best option.

"Here you go," she said, setting down a box.

"Um, I should have two boxes," he said.

"Huh?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head. "Two. Always have two."

She sighed, grabbing a clipboard. "You're only down for enough stuff to fill one box, Derek."

"Damien."

"Right," she said, looking back up.

"Well, I know that I ordered more than this."

She clicked her tongue. "I filled all orders this week, kid."

"I'm not a kid," he said, frowning at her. "I'm older than you."

"Well what the fuck do you want me to do? Huh?"

Damien looked down. She was being so mean. And she cursed at him!

Just then, the door opened.

"Hey," Fang said, walking into the store. "What's wrong, Damien?"

"Nothing," he said, handing the woman the money and leaving with his one box and three plushies. Meredith thought that meant she was off the hook, but she forgot one thing. Damien tells everything to his wife. And no one, _no one, _can stand the wrath of Cameron. Not even Max.

* * *

><p>And then there were three. Last week, Fang called and told me that I had better get down to the store. When I asked why, he said that Cameron was causing problems. Apparently, Meredith was rude to Damien, who went home and cried to Cameron. She went down there and started cursed at Meredith before threatening her. To be honest? I forget to mark down the second part of Damien's order. Not that I'm saying anything.<p>

"I shouldn't even have to be here today," I mumbled, trying to get comfortable so that I could nap.

Today, I had Adeem with me. Not Tabitha though. She was with Adeem's father. They got the day off from school so that they could shadow someone, not their parents, at their job. Tyler was with Damien and Alex was with Cameron. Alex was going to shadow Fang, until Cameron found out and raised hell. She thought that having someone shadow you meant that you could have someone to boss around. Which is the whole reason I called Adeem.

My daughter's boyfriend came out of the back, dragging a box behind him. Fang frowned, watching him.

"Need help?" Fang asked.

"No," he said as he stopped in front of a bookshelf. "Max said that I need to do it."

"Ms. Shadow," I mumbled, closing my eyes.

"Max," Fang sighed.

"What? I'm going to use this up, alright? Who knows the next time I'll get a kid that isn't my own to do my bidding."

He just sighed. "Whatever."

* * *

><p>Tabitha had never been alone with Mr. Saad. Never. She hadn't really seen him that much before. He was never home and when he was, Adeem tended to stay away from him. Until now, she hadn't even known his job.<p>

"Alright," he said, walking into the restaurant. "We open at ten. You sit here and help wrap the silverware, alright?"

"I don't know how," she admitted, staring at the thing of spoons and forks and then the cloth.

Mr. Saad sighed loudly. Kids these days. Take his son for example. Never worked a day in his life. What was this world coming to? And then for his son to decide that he wanted to marry a Christian? This world was a horrible, horrible place. And another thing. There was no dating in Islam. But his wife refused to let him interfere with his sons lives. It made him so angry. His family was becoming so…westernized. He had moved to America when he was ten, but he tried his hardest to stay true to his culture. His wife and sons weren't that committed.

"I can show her," one of the servers offered.

Mr. Saad nodded before walking off. The woman smiled at Tabitha.

"So you're the great Tabitha, huh?" She pulled out a chair at the table for both of them. "Here, sit. This will take awhile."

Tabitha sat down and watched the woman before starting.

"You catch on fast," the woman told her. "I'm Cherry."

"Cheery?"

"No, Cherry, like the food."

"Oh."

"Nickname."

"Oh."

"Yeah," she said, smiling. "Don't mind Mr. Saad. He's just an old grump."

Tabitha nodded, getting to work. Cherry helped her for awhile before going off to finish her own job. Maybe being here wouldn't be so bad. Maybe.

* * *

><p>Tyler sighed, watching Damien get his station ready. "This whole tattooing thing takes forever."<p>

"Yeah," Damien sighed. "Hey, how come you chose me? Why didn't you choose my father?"

"Max told me that I couldn't," Tyler said. "That I spent too much time with him."

So he was second choice to his father? Nice to know. "Well, I don't think you would have liked going to work with him anyways."

Tyler just shrugged. "When do you get to start tattooing?"

"When my appointment comes in."

"How long is that?"

"About an hour."

Tyler groaned. "Really?"

"Yeah," Damien sighed. "You know what I do until then?"

"What?"

Damien pulled out his sketch pad from his bag. "Draw."

God kill him now.

* * *

><p>"I have to organize these files?" Alex asked.<p>

"Yeah," Cameron said from her desk. She was on hold with some shopping channel. "Alphabetically."

Alex frowned. "I didn't know that you weren't nothing, but a receptionist."

"Good jobs equal college," Cameron said, shrugging.

"Really?"

"Yeah," she said. "Well, except for Damien. He's just a loser to begin with."

Alex giggled. "I'm going to go to…UT."

"Think bigger than that, girl."

"Syracuse?"

"No," Cameron said, shaking her head. "As long as you're dreaming, shoot high. Pretend for Princeton or Harvard. Come on."

"I guess Yale."

"See? Now you're talking."

"Why didn't you go to college?" Alex asked Cameron.

"Ugh. A guy."

"Oh."

"Never skip out on something for a guy," Cameron told the young girl. "Ever. Especially when your parents are offering to pay for it."

"I don't think I can go to college," Alex said. "Tyler told me that when we turn eighteen, we're going to runaway together."

"You and Tyler?" Cameron frowned. "I thought that you guys weren't-"

"We're not. We're friends. Best friends."

"You don't runaway with your best friend, Alex," she told her. "And as much as it doesn't seem like it, Tyler's just another guy. Trust me, by the time you're eighteen, you'll have your own life and know what you want to do. If it's still runaway with Tyler, _I'll_ pay for your college."

"Hope you like paying for Yale."

Cameron was going to respond, but she finally got her call through. New shoes here she comes.

* * *

><p>Luther wasn't supposed to be here. When he found out that Adeem was though, he was all over being here. Apparently, he was fine with Tabitha being with Adeem, but he still wasn't fond of the kid. He was very clear to say that it was nothing racial, just the way he felt. Who was I to judge? Besides, I was half asleep most the time anyways.<p>

"You're doing it all wrong," Luther complained, watching over Adeem. "Do you even know how to sweep? Huh? Huh?"

"If you're going to keep hounding him, you do it," Fang said from next to me. He didn't like Adeem, but he clearly didn't want Luther yelling at the boy. "You never do anything for the store anymore, Luther."

"You mind your own business, Fang."

"Why don't you? Last time I checked, sales were up while you were gone. Now they're plummeting again," Fang said. "Maybe you're not only a racist, but also bad luck."

"Stop it," I said, sitting up. "God, guys, really? Adeem, ignore them. You're doing better than I would do."

He nodded, not looking up. He clearly didn't like being the point of the argument. Fang shook his head, sitting back down.

"Max, would you get up?" Luther turned his left over anger onto me. Fang wouldn't have that.

"Get out," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he said, standing up. "Get out, Luther."

"Why are you all so mean to me?" He slammed the door on the way out of the place. Whatever. I went back to sleep after that. What? Boys are such babies anyways. Damien goes and cries to Cameron, Fang yells at me, and Luther blows up when he's angry. All guys do different things when they are mad. It's just part of life. I don't really care about it anymore.

"Finish sweeping," Fang told Adeem, sitting back down. "Then we'll go out and get burgers or something."

I smiled a little, closing my eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

Broken

Chapter 14

**April**

"What?"

Fang nodded his head, putting on a tie. "Now get up and get ready."

"Fang, I've never even gone to church!"

"You have to."

"No."

"Max, come on," he begged. "Tyler's getting baptized, alright? This is important."

I looked at the bedroom door, where Tyler stood. "Baby, do you want me to go?"

He looked sad, staring at the ground. "You don't have to, Max. I don't care."

I knew he cared. "Are you sure?"

"Max," Fang groaned. "Get up, you know that you're going."

I sighed, getting out of bed. "Fine. Go away, Tyler."

I was trying to sound annoyed, but it was obvious from the look on his face that he knew I wasn't that upset.

"I don't wanna," Chris complained a few minutes later as we got them ready. Fang was wearing a tie, but I and the boys were just wearing jeans and shirts. Tabitha wasn't going. She refused. Whatever. Brat.

"Yes, you do," I said, pulling a shirt over his head. "You love your brother."

"No," Lance whined as Fang dragged him out of the room to go brush his teeth. "I'm seepy!"

"You can take one stuffed animal," I told Chris. "One that doesn't talk."

"All talk."

"Out loud, baby."

He picked Mr. Tiger. "Weady to goes!"

"It's ready, baby."

"Me know. Weady!" He slipped on his jacket before walking out of the room. I rolled my eyes, following. Neo and Jason were already ready, along with Cody. James had spent the night with his grandparents and would be there.

"Fang," I called. "Come on."

"What 'bout Lucas?" Neo asked me.

"He's at Dr. Martinez's," I said. "He's gonna be there."

"Dr. Martinez don't go to Dan's church," Neo told me.

"I know, but she's coming to support Tyler, just like us," I said, picking Chris and Mr. Tiger up. "Fang!"

"Coming," he grumbled, walking in with a still whining Lance. When Lance saw Mr. Tiger, he hit Fang in the head.

"Wat!"

Fang groaned, letting the little boy go. "Get him and come on. Ty! You ready?"

* * *

><p>"I really wished you'd come."<p>

Tabitha didn't open her eyes. "That's nasty, Adeem."

"…It's me, Tabitha."

She rolled over. "What, Tyler?"

"I want you to come see me get baptized."

Sighing, she said, "I can't."

"Why not? You're my sister."

She looked at him. "Tyler, I'm not Christian. I refuse to go."

"So you're going to make a point at my expense?" He frowned. "Don't seem right."

"Not everything's right, some things just are."

He looked away. "Alex is coming and she's not Christian. She's Catholic."

"That's Alex's business, not mine." Who cared with stupid Alex did? Not Tabitha. "Besides, I'm Muslim."

"Stop it! You are not and you know that you're not." His patience was wearing thin. "You're my twin, Tabitha. You're supposed to support me, not use me as a freaking pawn."

"You're twelve years old. Get over it."

He frowned. "You're a shitty older sister."

"And you're a shitty Christian, cursing like that." She closed her eyes again. "Maybe you shouldn't be baptized."

"Ty!" His father's voice came from downstairs. "You ready?"

"I hate you," he said to Tabitha before slamming the door behind him.

* * *

><p>I hate church. It makes me want to puke.<p>

"Stay awake," Fang hissed in my ear as I started to drift off on his shoulder. I sighed, looking over at the boys. Chris and Lance were in the nursery with other little kids, but Jason and Neo both said that they wanted to be out here with us. Fang warned them that if they acted up in any way, they'd get sent to the nursery and then grounded.

Though right now the pastor was praying, Neo and Jason had a bible out, pretending to read it. They were nodding their heads randomly, looking very cute while doing so. I watched them most of the time, not really caring about the rest. Church is so boring. God. Hehe…

After church, Dan took Tyler and Alex out for lunch even though it was clear Fang wanted to. Tyler said that he wanted to go with Dan though, and Fang had to suck it up. It's his own fault, after all. He never spends time with Tyler, Dan does. As much as I don't like Dan, he does give up a lot of time to be with Tyler.

So, when we got home, Fang fed the kids before going with Lance and Chris to take a nap.

"What's wrong with Fang?" Neo asked.

"Daddy sick?" Jason asked, yawning. He and Neo were clearly tired, but they didn't want to seem like babies and take a nap.

"No," I told them, frowning. "He's just…kind of sad, I guess."

"Why? 'cause Tyler's a meanie face?" Neo cuddled against me as we sat down on the couch.

"No," I said as Jason climbed into my lap. "Because he just is, alright?"

"Max!" Tabitha came down the stairs. She had come down to get her food earlier, but taken it right back up to her room. "Can I see Adeem today?"

"No," I said, frowning at her. "Did you finish that history project? It's due tomorrow, right?"

"Yes," she groaned, frowning right back. "I'm not Tyler, you don't have to remind me of things."

"Just go away," I said, giving Jason a kiss. "Only positive attitudes in here."

"Then why are you in here?"

"…Go away."

* * *

><p>"You should have come."<p>

Cameron glanced at the bedroom door. "Did he look cute up there?"

"Seeing as I'm a man, I have to say no."

"As you?"

"Yes."

She smiled. "Where's Sam?"

"Dad took them out to eat and she went with them."

"Them?" Cameron yawned, pulling the blankets up around herself.

"Tyler and Alex."

"What about Fang? Figured he'd want to take Tyler out."

Damien shrugged, pulling off his shirt. "See? Sometimes I don't wear a shirt."

"It makes you so sexy," she mumbled, not really that into it. Damien got into bed, smiling when she ran her hands down his flat stomach.

"Max came."

"Really? Now I kind of feel bad."

He ran a hand down her head. "Did you ever get baptized?"

She closed her eyes. "Yeah, Damien."

"…You know a lot about God, for an atheist."

"I'm not a freaking atheist, Damien. I'm just not practicing at the moment."

"Or the century."

She sighed. "What do you want from me?"

"You grew up in the church, huh?"

"Yes."

He glanced down at her. "You weren't Baptist."

"How would you know?"

"I can tell."

She just buried her head in his chest. "I'm still tired."

"Then sleep," he sighed, reaching over to turn on the TV. "Just sleep."

* * *

><p><strong>June<strong>

First week of summer and it was hot.

"It's too hot."

Tabitha looked at Adeem. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Why can't we go over to Luther's and use his pool?"

"He's having his own party today," Tabitha said, frowning.

"So? Why can't we go?"

"It's an adult party."

"We won't mess anything up," Adeem went on.

"Not a dinner party, stupid. Like…a group sex thing."

Adeem laughed. "Luther?"

She huffed, laying her head down on his pillow. "It's not funny. I wish I didn't know about it."

"Why do you?"

"It's not like he tries to hide it that much."

Adeem shifted his attention back to Halo. "What about tomorrow?"

"I don't want to go over there at all, not knowing what just happened there."

Again, he just laughed at her. "You're such a baby."

"No."

"Yes, you are."

"Why? Just because I don't want to think about Luther having sex?"

"Why do you care if he does?" Adeem countered. "Ain't really none of your business."

"Ain't? Besides, yes it is."

"How?"

"He's like…my uncle."

"Not really."

"Kind of!"

"Still. You should be glad that he's still having sex."

"Why?"

"If he wasn't, it would mean that he was fat and ugly."

"Luther's not fat or ugly."

Adeem glanced at her. "I think that you're jealous."

"What?"

"You got a thing for Luther, huh?"

"No!" She pushed him. "That's nasty."

"Very," Adeem agreed. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"God, Adeem, you're probably the one that has a thing for him!"

"No," he said truthfully. "Honestly, if I had to choose any of your family, I'd pick Max."

And that's why they stopped talking for a month.

* * *

><p>Tabitha and Adeem aren't hanging out anymore. Every time I ask her why, she just blows me off, saying that it doesn't matter. She never liked him anyways. Whatever. I'm not that concerned. Besides, either the Kardashians are on or Kendra. Sometimes I luck out and it's After Lately.<p>

"This show is way too mature for any of the kids," Fang said, coming into the living room. "And yet you have them all in here."

"Shhh," I hissed. "I've only seen this episode five times."

"Max," he said, shaking his head. "Come on, boys. Let's go up to the attic."

"But I wanna see if Kim gets back with Reggie," James complained as Fang took them all up the stairs. I frowned.

"She doesn't, James," I called. Now, where was I?

Two hours later, my marathon was off and I took a nap. When I woke up, Chris was on my stomach, staring down at me.

"What are you doing?" I whispered, noticing the grim expression on his face.

"Hidin'."

"From who?"

"Daddy."

I sat up, making his fall into my lap. "Fang!"

He came running down the stairs. "There you are, Chris."

The toddler started crying, holding onto me.

"What happened?" I asked, getting up. I didn't let Fang have him though. "Huh, Chris?"

"Lance bit Neo and Chris stole Buzz," Fang said.

I looked down at the baby. "Did you do that?"

"No."

Fang sighed, moving past us. "I have to find Lance. He ran off too."

"Lance," I called. "Where are you?"

* * *

><p>Tabitha had taken her father's laptop and was going though Adeem's facebook, making sure that he didn't think that it was okay to be talking to other girls even though they were kind of broken up, when her bedroom door opened.<p>

"Hide!" Lance yelled, closing the door behind him. Chris banged on the door before running off down the stairs to his mother.

"What?" Tabitha didn't look up. "Go away."

"Gotta hide," he said, getting onto the bed with her. She pushed him back down gently.

"Under the bed."

He nodded, getting down on his knees before crawling under there.

"What are you hiding from?" She asked after she heard her father run by.

"Fang."

"Why?"

"He mad."

"What'd you do?" She asked, looking through Adeem's pictures. He had apparently gone to some kid's birthday party since their fall out. Only a few girls were there and none of them were too close to him.

"Bited."

"Bit."

"Yeah."

"Who did you bite, Lance?"

"Neo."

"What did he do?"

"No lets me 'n' Chris play wid Buzz!"

"That's not nice."

"Yeah."

"You shouldn't have bit him though."

"No."

"Yes," she said, going through his status updates. Her name had not been mentioned. "Don't bite. Why do you bite, huh? Do we taste good to your or something?"

Lance giggled. "Maked Neo bleed."

"Well, that's bad, Lance."

He crawled out from under the bed before getting onto it with her. This time, Tabitha didn't push him down. Giggling, Lance cuddled under her blankets.

"It's almost bedtime," Tabitha told him. "You need to eat and take your bath."

"Eat, no bath."

"Eat and bath."

He whined, but followed her out of the room to go ask Fang what was for dinner.

* * *

><p><strong>July<strong>

"Yeah, but Max…I don't want to go over there."

"Too bad," I told Tabitha as I put the boys in their swim trunks. "Luther's very nice for letting us use his pool."

"Yeah, after he's done with it."

"What do you mean?" I asked as Chris tried to pull off his swim trunks. He wanted red, but his were yellow. The red ones were Lance's old ones and way too big for him.

"No 'ike dem!" He yelled in my face.

"Too bad," I said before looking back at Tabitha. She sighed, going over to the dresser and pulling out a different pair of trunks. They were old; probably Tyler's from when he was younger.

"Here, these are red, Chris," she said before looking at me. "You know what he does over there."

I glanced at Chris to make sure that he was putting his shorts on correctly before realizing what she had said. "You don't need to know what he does over there."

"It's not like you guys don't talk in front of everyone at the store."

I frowned. "You are way too young-"

"Not too freaking young to watch those stupid TV shows with you?"

I sighed, now helping Lance into his orange shorts. "Tabitha, go away."

"No."

"I'm sure that he's cleaned up, okay?" I looked back at her. "Just…why do you care that much? You shouldn't even know about it."

"Whatever," she said before stomping out of the room.

"Mr. Tiger swim?" Chris asked, now happy that he got red shorts.

"No," I said. "But he can sit at the table and eat hotdogs."

"Come?"

"Yes, he can come."

"See fireworks, huh Max?" Lance asked as we walked out of the room.

"When it's night, yeah, we will."

He and Chris cheered, even though they both knew they were afraid of fireworks and always would cry until we took them home.

When we got to Luther's, he was already drinking, which is always nice. Not.

"Please, Fang?" I begged as he went and got into the pool with the kids. "I'll love you forever."

"No beer, Max," he said, frowning at me and then Luther. "I told you no drinking."

"My house, my rules," he said, taking another swig before jumping in. Chris went to the edge and reached out for Fang.

"Daddy!"

Fang took Lance in one arm, Chris in the other. They giggled. Though they weren't able to swim, Fang always held them in the water so that they didn't complain too much. After about a minute, he sat them back down on the steps.

"Hey," I said to Cameron when they got there. She and Damien weren't touching or talking which meant that they were probably fighting. "What's wrong?"

"Damien's an ass."

"Cameron."

She huffed, sitting down next to me. "He made me come."

"Why?"

"He didn't think that me staying home, watching a Jail marathon, was a good plan for this afternoon."

I watched as Sam went over to Neo and Jason. Though they were no longer together, she was still friends with them, mostly because there is no other kids for her to play with when she was over at our house. Damien got them a Frisbee to play with before coming to sit down next to us.

"Hey, Max," he greeted.

"Hey."

"Who has the store today?"

"No one," I said, shrugging. "Not like we ever sale anything anyways."

* * *

><p>Tabitha, who refused to swim, was inside Luther's house with Tyler and Alex. They were supposed to be watching TV, but they found watching R-rated movies more fun. Luther surprised them a few minutes later by walking into the house.<p>

"Luther-"

"Don't care what you're watching, just don't let your parents know," he said, walking past the living room. When he came back, he had something in his hand. "Here, Tabs."

"What is it?" She asked, going over to him.

"A phone," he said, handing it to her. "Your own cell phone. Iphone."

"You bought her an Iphone?" Tyler got really upset really fast. "That's not fair!"

"Chill out, little guy," Luther said, smiling as she hugged him. "I'll get you one when you're her age."

"We're twins."

"…I was a little high when I bought it. Forgot. Oops. Oh well. You don't have a lot of friends anyways."

"What?"

"…A little buzzed," Luther said, walking away. "Didn't really mean that. I'll get you one in a year or two, Tyler."

"What?"

Tabitha smiled, following Luther out of the house.

* * *

><p>"She cannot keep it," I told Fang.<p>

"Why not?" He took his trunks before going into the bathroom. We were finally home, already having seen the fireworks.

"Tyler doesn't have one, Fang."

"So?" He turned on the shower.

"That's favoritism!"

"And?" He looked at me. "Tabitha helps out with the younger kids, she does her homework, keeps her room clean, has the best grades. So what if she has something that he doesn't?"

I shook my head at him. "This is why Tyler chooses Dan over you."

Fang got mad at me. "Shut your fucking mouth."

"Why don't you make me?"

He slammed the bathroom door closed. Big baby…

* * *

><p>In the end, Tabitha got to keep her phone. And, she decided that it was time to talk to Adeem again.<p>

"So it's yours?" Adeem took the phone from her. "Forever?"

"Yeah," she said. "Luther said that he's just showing how much he loves me."

"Wow," he said, turning it over in his hands. "I don't have anything from Apple."

"Yeah."

"I bet Tyler's jealous," he said as he handed it back.

"He's always jealous of me," Tabitha said, rolling her eyes. They were over at his house, in his backyard. It was late, almost eight, and he dad would be there in an hour. "Max tried to take it from me."

"Why?"

"Because Tyler didn't get one."

"Max is a bitch."

"I know," Tabitha said, trying to keep thoughts of what he had said about her a month ago out of her mind. "She's just jealous of me."

"Yeah," he said, though he found that hard to believe. Max was amazing…not that Tabitha needed to know that. It wasn't a Stacy's Mom situation, but he definitely wouldn't complain if he accidentally saw Max naked…

"What do you want to do?" She asked. Right now, they were just looking at the sky, not really doing anything but talking.

"Whatever you want to do."

Sometimes, it gets boring always choosing what they do. Didn't mean that she was planning to vacate that position anytime soon.

* * *

><p>After Fang came home with Tabitha, we went to bed. All the little kids were already asleep and, now that they had told me to stop, I no longer tucked Cody and James in. Whatever. I don't care.<p>

"I'm so tired," Fang said, rolling onto his stomach. "Rub my back for me?"

I frowned. "Why? Are your pills not-"

"It's just tight, that's all," he said, smiling at me. "Come on. If you do, I'll cuddle tonight."

"What makes you think I want that?"

"Then what do you want?"

"Go into work for me tomorrow," I wagered.

"Ain't that tight."

"Fine then."

He groaned. "Please, baby?"

"Fine."

An hour later, Fang was sound asleep and I was watching TV.

"Max?"

I looked at the door. "Hey, Neo."

"Can I sleep with you?"

I looked over at Fang. Dressed. All clear. Lifting up the blanket, I nodded my head. He crawled up next to me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, pulling him to me.

"…I don't wanna go to school," he suddenly began to wail.

"What's wrong?" Fang sat up quickly. "Are the kids okay?"

"It's just Neo," I said, kissing the boy's head. "Baby, why don't you want to go to school?"

"It's scary!" He cried, holding onto me. He started dry heaving. "I wanna stay home."

"School's not for another month," Fang said, laying back down. "Stop it."

Fang wasn't very good at caring when he was tired. I gave Neo another kiss.

"Baby, it's okay," I said, trying to calm him. "School's not that bad."

"Jay no there, Sam not in class…I'm all alone!"

"Now that's not true," I said, turning off the TV. "Calvin from down the street is starting school too. You like him too, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Mark from next door is. Tressa, she is too," I said. "All your little friends are starting, just not Jason and Sam."

He sniffled. "I guess so."

"See?" I gave him a kiss. "You don't have anything to worry about."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Guess not."

"Good. Now go to sleep," I said, covering us both over. "Goodnight."

"Night," he said, moving closer to me. "Love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

><p>That night, Luther was at home, watching a porno, when there was a knock on the door. Grumbling, he pulled up his pants and went to answer the door.<p>

"What?"

"Luther!"

Oh shit.

* * *

><p>"So this is your…girlfriend?" Fang stared at her. "Uh…hi. I'm Fang."<p>

I just looked at her before going to sit down. "Max."

"My name is Valerie," she said, smiling at us. "You can just call me Val."

"Or bad one night stand," I mumbled, but shut up after a glare from Fang.

"So, I just thought you guys should meet her," Luther said. "Max, can I see you in the office before we leave?"

Grumbling, I got up and followed him. When we got in there, he looked at me with big eyes.

"Max, you have got to help me," he said. "Please-"

"What?" I asked, going to lay down on the couch. Way better than the counter… "What's the matter?"

"She's saying that she's pregnant, but I don't remember ever-"

"What?" I sat up. "Luther-"

"I didn't sleep with her," he said, sounding like he was going out of his mind. "I really didn't. At least I don't think I did…"

I sighed. "Why else would she say it's yours? And since when has there been a girl that you haven't slept with?"

He frowned. "I don't really remember. We were going to, but…I don't remember. I just don't."

"What do you want me to do?"

He stared me straight in the eyes. "I have a plan, but Fang might not like it."

"I'm in," I said. "Whatever it is, I'm so in."

* * *

><p>And so, that's how I ended up getting drunk with this girl. We were at a bar, Fang secretly seated a little ways away, just to make sure I didn't get too out of hand. Of course, he was oppose to this from the beginning, but he had no choice, but to go along with it.<p>

"That many kids?" She took another sip of her drink. "Damn."

"I know, huh?" I finished my fifth. "You know what? I think that you'll be a horrible mother, drinking while pregnant."

She laughed the loud, drunk girl laugh. "You wanna know a secret?"

She leaned close to me. I nodded my head frantically. "Yeah. What?"

"I'm not pregnant," she said. "We almost slept together, but he was coming off his high so he got tired and went to sleep."

I laughed my drunk laugh. "Really?"

"Really." Then she leaned close again and kissed me. I was confused by this when I felt something pick me up.

"Time to go," Fang said, throwing me over his shoulder. He gave the bartender a hundred. "Keep the change."

He carried me out of the bar. Well then.

"So?" Luther asked as we got back into the car. "What happened?"

"She's not pregnant," Fang said, putting me into the backseat. He buckled me up and gave me a kiss on the head.

"Great!" Luther smiled as Fang got into the passengers seat.

"She kissed me," I told Luther, closing my eyes. I wasn't completely gone, in my opinion. Fang and Luther clearly thought so though, as they made me repeat myself twice before they understood what I said.

"Really?" Luther suddenly brightened. "Let's go take Max back in there, Fang!"

"No," he said, frowning. "Max isn't like that."

"Yeah," I agreed. Then my eyes got big. "Fang, I gotta pee!"

"Great," he grumbled. "Drive, Luther."

When we got home, no one else was expect for Tyler and Tabitha. It was eight, but we had give all the other kids to someone else.

"Are you drunk?" Tabitha asked from the couch as Fang hauled me off to the bathroom.

"I'm just buzzed," I snapped at her. "Are you ac-acu…saying that I did something?"

"Tabitha, leave her alone," Fang sighed, making me go into our room. He took me to the bathroom before laying me down on the bed. "This was a bad idea."

I cuddled into the bed, now sleepy. "My stomach hurts, Fang."

"Shhh," he mumbled, walking out of the room. "Just be quiet."

* * *

><p>"I can't believe that they actually did that," Damien said, shaking his head.<p>

Cameron shrugged. Tonight, they had agreed to take James, Neo, Cody, and Jason so that Max could go out and get drunk. Lance, Chris, and Lucas were with Dr. Martinez.

"It's their business, Damien, not ours," she said, getting into bed. "Besides, you know that they're all kind of screwed in the head."

"No kidding," Damien said. "Why doesn't he just ask if she's really pregnant? Or take her to the doctor?"

"That's way too easy," Cameron said, running a hand down Peter's back. "They're just having fun."

"Well, Max and Fang are thirty this year," Damien said, sitting down. "All of us are too old to go out and get drunk."

"Hardly," Cameron said, dryly. "Maybe get drunk, but don't put us in walkers and graves yet, Damien."

"None of them have grown up," Damien said, closing his eyes.

"Yeah…did you take your Flintstone vitamins?"

"Yep," Damien said, cuddling into his Superman pillow. "Goodnight, Cameron."

"Night, omen," she said, rolling her eyes.


	15. Chapter 15

Broken

Chapter 15

On the first day of school, I expected another fit from Neo. Instead, Jason threw a huge tantrum when I got back from dropping all the other kids off.

"What?" I asked Fang as I walked in. He shrugged, watching Jason throw himself to the ground, screaming. He was four now, going to be five in January, and had long out grown such childish things like this. Sure, he cried, but not full on, stomping feet, screaming cries.

"Stop that," Fang said after gathering his bearings. "Nothing's wrong with you. You want me to spank you? Huh? Huh? Straighten up."

"I want Neo!" He cried, reaching out for me as Fang got to him. "Mommy! Mommy!"

"Fang, don't hit him," I said after he already had.

Chris and Lance watched for a second before picking up their stuffed animals and running over to the discarded, old playpen. Lance got on his hands in knees, letting Chris climb on him to get in before Lance himself clambered in there, wanting protection from Fang. It's not like Fang was hitting Jay hard, he just was hitting and that scared them.

I picked up Jason, even though he was starting to get on the heavy side, and moved away from Fang. "Jay, what's wrong, huh?"

He sniffled loudly, trying to stop himself from crying. "I miss Neo."

"Baby, that is nothing to cry about."

"Damn straight it's not," Fang said, now in an angry mood. "Stop it, Jason. Don't you be a big baby like James."

"Fang!" I walked into the kitchen with Jason to get away from him. God.

* * *

><p>Damien was sad on Sam's first day of school. True, he was in a better mood than last year, but he was still kind of upset. Cameron was always a bitch about that kind of stuff, so he went to his mom's.<p>

"Here," she said, giving him a plate of leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes. "Sorry there wasn't any corn."

"Trinity, you've already fed him three times in the past four hours," Dan complained. "Where's my omelet?"

She rolled her eyes, not saying anything to her husband. "Are you okay now, Damien?"

"Yes."

"Good," she said before walking away.

"My eggs, woman," Dan called after he saw her head to the bedroom. Grumbling, he changed the channel from Divorce Court to Fox News. He didn't even like Divorce Court. When he said that he didn't like the judge, Trinity accused him of it being because she was black. And no, it was not. He just didn't like her uppity attitude.

"You want some of my-"

"Shut up, boy," he said, frowning. Damien smiled a little. His father didn't call him boy that much now that Tyler was around. It was kind of nice, even if it wasn't said in a caring way. "If it wasn't for you, she'd already have taken care of my food."

Damien just stared at his plate. "Do you think 35 is a big birthday?"

Dan didn't look away from the TV. "Why?"

"Cameron's gonna be 35 next birthday. Am I supposed to make a big deal out of it or-"

"Oh, Damien, don't ask him," Trinity said, walking back into the room. "Ask him when my birthday is. Go ahead, ask. Ooh, better yet, ask him when your birthday is. Or his own. How about Tam-"

"Shut up, woman," he said, now tired and very hungry.

"Excuse me?"

Dan shook his head. "I'm just hungry, Trinity. You've made the boy food twenty times already. Where's mine?"

"Last time I checked you had legs."

"So does the kid!"

"He's mourning, Dan."

"Oh, shut up." He got out of his chair walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

"I'm sorry," Damien said in his small, child like voice that he always used when his parents were fighting. "I didn't mean to make him mad."

"You didn't, baby," she said, going into the kitchen. "He'll be back. I'm making him eggs. Are you still hungry?"

"Not at all," he said, not even really wanting to eat the food she already made him. "Cameron never cooks for me."

"Cameron never does anything for you."

He frowned. "She loves me and takes care of me."

Trinity rolled her eyes. "As long as you think so, Damien, I don't have the heart to tell you otherwise."

"I know so, Mom."

She just shook her head.

* * *

><p>"His name is Brian," Samantha said, smiling as she followed her father into the house. "He's in 4th grade and I think he loves me."<p>

"What? Cameron-" He started as he closed the front door.

"Shut up," she said, staring at the TV. "I really don't care what she does with the 4th grader. He probably doesn't even know her name."

"Yes, he does!" Samantha yelled, stomping her feet. "I was scared because it was lunch time and I didn't know where my class was supposed to sit, when he came up and told me that I was sitting at the 4th grade table. He pointed me to my table. Now we're in love."

"Yeah, whatever," Cameron said, craning her neck around Bubba, who had suddenly decided to stand up in front of the TV.

"How do you know his name?" Damien asked, frowning.

"Because he's Marissa's older brother," Sam said. "When I was waiting for you to pick me up after school, their mom came and I said bye to her and then bye to him. He asked who I was and she said 'that's Sam' so now he knows me. And loves me, Daddy. More than anyone in the whole world."

Suddenly, Neo was a whole lot more appealing. "What about Neo?"

"What about Neo?" She asked, going to give Bubba, who was still in front of the TV, a hug. Cameron gave out a groan like she was a cat in heat, having to finally give up on ever seeing the end of her show.

"I thought that you guys-"

"They broke up," Cameron said, having to give up on Sex and the City romances and pay attention to Samantha and Brandon…or Brendan…was it Brice? "Remember? He made her cry, Damien."

"Yeah," Samantha said. "Brian would never do that to me. We're in love, by the way."

"So I heard," Cameron said, laying down. "Damien, can you-"

"Samantha, you are not in love," Damien told his daughter, frowning at her. "You're just not."

"Yes, I am, Daddy. Like as in love as Tiana and Naveen."

"Who's that?" Damien asked.

"That black princess movie," Cameron said. "The one with the toad."

"Frog," Samantha corrected. "Even more in love than Buzz and Jessie!"

"Who?"

"Toy Story 3, Dame."

This was all too confusing. "You don't even really know him, Samantha."

"I know that I love him."

"No, you don't!"

"Yes," she said, frowning at him. "You just don't wanna see me happy. It's okay though. I hope that you're unhappy too!"

With that, she stomped up the stairs. Bubba followed for a second before just collapsing, suddenly realizing how far away the upstairs was.

"Cameron, she's gonna end up like you," Damien said as soon as she was out of earshot.

"What?"

"She's going to leave us, never go to college, date a guy that is way too old for her, and wreck her life."

Cameron blinked. "Hello, you're part of this life, idiot, and so is she."

"I meant it was wrecked until you met me," he said, sitting down next to her.

"Wasn't exactly a perfect life after."

"Yes, it was. Is, I mean is," he said, putting her feet in his lap. "I love you so much, Cameron. What's more perfect than that?"

A guy that was hot, could take care of her, didn't cry to his mother, was into sports, could hold his own in a fight, and accepted the fact that maybe, just maybe she didn't love her daughter.

"Nothing, Damien," she sighed. "Absolutely nothing."

* * *

><p><strong>October<strong>

"Happy Hal'ween," Lance yelled.

"Lance, sweetie, it's only the tenth," I said, frowning. "And it's also only five in the morning. Who woke you up?"

"Fang!" He giggled. "Heard him gets up. Means it's breakfast time! An' Hal'ween. Happy Hal'ween!"

Chris walked into the room and got into bed with me. "Foo'?"

"No," I said, sighing. "Go get back in bed, boys."

"No," Lance complained, now upset. "Food!"

"Just get in bed with me," I told them. After settling them down, I went to find Fang. I went to the living room. It was still dark, but he was sitting on the couch. "Fang?"

"Go to bed."

I went and sat down next to him. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "I just have a bad headache. Go back to bed."

"Why did you have to come in here?" I reached up to feel his head. "Are you sick?"

"No."

"Do you want me to do anything?"

"Just go back to bed."

"I won't sleep until I know that you're in there."

"Just go."

I gave him a kiss before starting to walk away. "Call me if you need me, Fang."

"I will."

I went back to bed and, shockingly, fell right to sleep. Huh.

* * *

><p>After Max went back to bed, Fang sat there for a minute before getting out his phone. He played the message once more before returning the call. He had to leave a message.<p>

"Look, you little manorexic freak, I don't give a fuck what you want, so never call me again, never try and call my wife again." He took a deep breath. "Your son is now my son, got that? You don't have a life here, not anymore. Forget about ever coming back, alright?"

Fang hung up before going into the kitchen. He got a soda and cookie for Max before going back into the bedroom. She was passed out even though it had only been about five minutes. Fang shook his head, getting into bed.

"Cookie?" Lance was suddenly awake. Chris whined.

"Me, Daddy."

He broke it in half, giving a piece to each boy. Then they begged for his coke.

"Here," Fang said, sitting Chris up. He had never drank from a can before. "Open your mouth."

He did so and Fang started helping him drink some. Then he gave the can to Lance, who drank a little too.

"Now sleep," Fang said, finishing off the coke. "I mean it."

Both boys giggled, Chris cuddling against his mommy and Lance against his surrogate daddy.

* * *

><p>"Who's Justin?"<p>

Damien looked up. "Remember? Tammie dated him."

"I doubt that it's that Justin," Cameron said, rolling her eyes. "Sam left her binder behind today and Justin's name is all over it."

Sighing, Damien looked back at the TV. "This is getting out of control."

"I was just wondering what happened to TJ…or Markus…or Heath."

"What about Brandon? And Brian?" Damien shook his head. "This is too much. Make her stop."

"Stop what? It's all innocent," Cameron said, still typing away on the laptop.

"Until she's fourteen."

"Long way away."

"Not really."

"Look, Damien, when she's fourteen, I'll be forty-four, so no. She is no where close to that."

He sighed. "Is forty-four a lot?"

"God, shut up."

"Okay."

* * *

><p>"I hate polar bears."<p>

Tabitha didn't look up. "We're in the library, stupid. Keep your voice down."

It was the last period of the day, one that they didn't have together, so they both asked to go to the library to 'study'. Well, Tabitha was studying.

"I just mean, why do I have to care about saving them?"

She sighed. "What are you talking about now?"

"Here," he said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a piece of paper. "See?"

She read it before looking up. "Don't look that hard."

"Doesn't," he corrected. After a glare though, he moved on. "Didn't you read it?"

"I did," she said. "You have to write a paper about global warming and its effects on icecaps. Polar bears included."

"Yeah, I don't believe in global warming though."

Shrugging, she said, "Neither do I. Just write what you think he wants you to say."

"I ain't going to write what I don't believe in."

"You're getting onto me for don't and you say ain't?"

"Oh, you say ain't too."

"Whatever."

"So, anyways," he started, "I hate polar bears."

"Polar bears are cute, I guess," she said, handing him the paper back. "Not cute enough to save, though."

"Agreed," he said. "Why should I waste my life to save the life of a stupid polar bear? He sure isn't trying to save mine!"

She stared into his eyes for a second before looking back down at her work. "Then don't do the paper, stupid."

"Oh, I'm stupid, okay, yeah, whatever."

"What do you want to do after school today?" She asked, no longer caring about his hatred for polar bears. "Your house or mine?"

"I'm actually grounded."

"For what?"

He shrugged, putting the piece of paper back in his bag. "Stuff."

"You just don't want me to come over."

"Yes, I do," he insisted. "I'm just grounded, okay?"

"For what?"

"Cursing, alright?" He stood up. "I'm gonna go back to class."

"Whatever."

"Bye, Tabby," he said, walking away.

"Bye, stupid," she mumbled even though he was already too far away to hear her.

* * *

><p>Fang was grumpy all day. I luckily got out of it and got to go to work. Never have I been so happy to sleep on a counter.<p>

"Hey," Luther said when he came in around five. "Any of the kids here?"

"No," I said, yawning.

"Me!"

"Oh, yeah, Chris is," I said, looking around. He came out of the bookshelves with some action figures. When he saw it was just Luther, he went back to whatever he had been doing before.

"You know it's dangerous, sleeping when a toddler is running around."

"What's the worse that could happen?"

"Gee, Max, someone could take him!"

I sighed. "How many days have you gone without drinking?"

"Too many to count," he grumbled, going into the back. Things were still kind of awkward between us. I mean, he did kiss me once. Though, according to Fang, I did kiss that woman that said she was pregnant a few months ago. I didn't remember it though, which, in my opinion, means that it didn't happen.

"Food!" Chris yelled suddenly, running towards me. Lance was going to come with us today, but he and Chris started fighting. It was rare for them to fight, but when they did, it was horrible.

"You're hungry?" I scratched my head. "Did we eat today?"

He shook his head. "Mommy sleep. No wake her up."

"Baby, I didn't feed you?" Now I felt bad. I don't eat unless someone makes me. At home, I always have Jay or Lance to whine about food. Chris never does unless his brothers start it.

"Mommy," he said, going over to his diaper bag. He pulled out his sippy cup and a sandwich bag with crackers in it. "Ated so' this."

"You did?" I smiled at him, though that didn't make me feel any better. "Go get Luther and tell him to come here, alright?"

He nodded, running off to do it. When Luther came into the room, he had a beer bottle.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked, frowning.

"From the office," he said. "What did you want?"

"Are you drunk?"

"Not really," he said. "Just had one."

"Good. Go get Chris a kids meal."

"What? Max, you'll ruin his dinner."

"Don't sound like my mother," I said. "Besides, this is his lunch."

Luther frowned. "Have you not fed him?"

"Just go do it."

Sighing, he agreed. "Fine, come on, Chris."

"What? No," I said, shaking my head. "You could be drunk."

"Oh, so you'll send me out there to kill someone else's kid so long as it's not your own?"

"Yes," I said, picking Chris up when he ran over to me. "Duh."

* * *

><p>Tyler and Alex were in his room, pretending to do their homework, when Lucas walked in.<p>

"Who took it?"

"Took what?" Tyler asked, frowning. "And I thought I said that you couldn't come in here when Alex is here?"

"Where is Fred?"

"Who's Fred?" Alex asked.

"That stupid snake?" Tyler rolled his eyes, looking up. "There, on the shelf- Wait, where'd he go?"

"You took him," Lucas accused. He had been at Heath's house since school let out, having to finish a project. This morning, he had noticed his snake's absence, but Tyler had already left.

"Why would I take him?" Tyler settled back into his bed. "I don't want the stupid snake."

"You're just jealous!"

"Of what?"

"Fred. You want to be my favorite thing in the world, but you can't be."

"Hardly," Tyler said, rolling his eyes. "I'm already the best thing in someone's life, huh Alex?"

She frowned. "Whose?"

"Yours."

Yeah, whatever. "Oh."

Lucas was not concerned with his brother's delusions, only his lack of plastic snake. "I want Fred back and I want him now, Ty-ler."

"I don't have him, Lu-cas."

Alex sighed. "Maybe someone else stole him, Luke."

"No! Tyler did it and I'm going to tell Dad and he's going to hit you with his belt."

"Go ahead," Tyler said. "I know that I didn't take him."

"Then who did?" Lucas asked. 'Who else would want him?"

* * *

><p>"Sorry," Lance told Chris as soon as he walked through the door. "No wanna fight no more."<p>

Chris gave his friend a hug as his mommy went to go sit in Daddy's lap. He saw them kiss and made a disgusted face before letting Lance go.

"It's okay," Chris said, following him to their bedroom.

They both said bye to Fang, because they loved him so much, before they left. When they got to their room, Chris climbed onto his bed, a new thing his mommy got for him, and cuddled into his blankets. Having a crib was nice, but now that he had a bed, it was even better. He got Pooh and Tigger sheets. He loved them.

"I gots yous a sorry p'esent," Lance told him.

Chris was intrigued. "Wha'?"

"A snake!" Lance went and got it off his own bed. "See? Snake."

"Ooh."

"Yeah," he said, going to give it to his friend. "Sorry I bites you."

"Okay," Chris said, patting his friend's head. "Love snakes."

"Me know."

"Where?"

"Wha'?"

"Where gets snake?"

Lance giggled. "Sitting high up! See 'im and 'sides I'mma get 'im for my best friend!"

Chris smiled. "T'anks."

"Welcome," Lance said, getting up onto his bed. "No more fights ever 'gain."

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>A few weeks later, I was asleep when, like had been for the past week, Lance burst into the room.<p>

"Happy Halloween!"

Finally, he had gotten it right. I groaned, rolling over.

"Lance, baby, it's still early. You don't get to celebrate until later."

"Yes!"

"No," I said, closing my eyes. "Go away."

The four year old stomped his foot. "Happy Halloween, Max."

He whined until Fang lifted up the blanket and let him get in bed with us. Not soon after, Chris ran in too.

"Left me!"

"Just get in here," Fang grumbled. Giggling, Chris got into bed with us.

"Hi, Mommy. Hi, Daddy. Hi, Lance."

"Hi," Lance said. "Happy Halloween!"

I pulled Lance to me and gave him a kiss. "Stop being so noisy, okay? Me and Fang are tired."

"Fang and I," my husband corrected. I'm with Tabitha, that is annoying.

"Shut up, Fang."

He gave the two boys a kiss on the head and me one on the lips. "Okay, I'm going back to sleep. You guys all be quiet."

"That's what I'm trying to be," I mumbled, closing my eyes. It took awhile, but eventually, the boys feel asleep too. When I woke up again, everyone was gone from the house. I called out to them for awhile, looking around. I found a note in the kitchen telling me that Fang went to the store, taking Jay, Lance, and Chris with him. It was Monday and the others were gone off to school.

"Looks like it's just us, Fox," I told the cat as he strode past. "Where's the bitchy one?"

Snickers meowed from the table, flicking her tail as if she understood what I had said. The little she-devil probably had too. I went outback and got Tank water.

"Hi, Ms. Max."

I looked up. It was Kenny, a four year old that lived next door. He was playing in his backyard. Though none of my kids particularly liked hanging out with him, he always wanted to come over. He sort of had a baby crush on Tabitha and it was cute, whether she thoughts so or not.

"Hi," I told him, smiling. "What are you going to be for Halloween?"

"Baseball player," he said. "A-Rod!"

I sighed. Hope Fang doesn't know that. He hates the Yankees…I like that word though. Yankees…

"That's cool," I told him. "See you later, Kenny."

"Bye," he called, giggling. I went back inside and turned on the TV in the living room. No Kardashians. Sigh. I went to sleep. I mean, honestly, what point is there in life without that show?

* * *

><p>"What are you?"<p>

"A ghost," Lance told Cameron, holding up his bag. Following his lead, Chris held up his.

"And what are you, Chris?" She asked, giving Lance his candy.

"A kitty," he said. All he really had was cat ears and Max had drawn whiskers on his face with some of her makeup. "Meow."

She giggled. "You're cute, Chris."

He smiled up at her. "More?"

"More what?"

"Candy."

She gave each of them another handful. Fang made them both say thank you before wheeling them away. Cameron went back into the living room. Dr. Phil was on.

"Alright," Damien said, coming into the house two hours later. "Me and Sam got every house."

"Yep," she said. Damien was carrying her bag for her, of course. That's what daddy's are for, after all.

"You can have ten pieces before you go to bed," Damien told her, setting her bag down.

"No," she said, clicking her tongue like her mother always did. "Twenty and bed in an hour."

"Five and bed now," Cameron said. "Keep arguing and-"

"I take Daddy's deal," Sam said quickly.

"Good choice," Damien said, smiling. He turned off the porch light, signalizing that they were now closed for candy shop. He grabbed the bowl of their candy and took it over to the couch, giving it to Cameron. "Here, Cammie."

"Thanks," she said, taking it. "Now go feed the dog and Peter."

Sighing, he went off to do her bidding. She was the love of his life, or so he liked to tell himself.

* * *

><p>Tabitha and Adeem were over at his house, watching some horror movie, when they heard something. They were home alone, something her father would have flipped about if he knew, and tried to ignore it. They were in his bedroom, laying on his bed, while the noise came from the living room area.<p>

"Did you hear that?" He asked the second time he heard it.

"…Not if you didn't."

Adeem moved closer to her. "I don't believe in ghosts."

"Never said you did."

"I believe in demons though."

She just stared at him. "Maybe it's your parents."

"Nah, they went, like, three towns over to visit my aunt. Said they wouldn't be back until at least three in the morning."

She was in shock. "They just left you here all alone?"

"Not alone," he said, staring at his bedroom door. "They knew you'd be here after school and that your dad would come pick you up around ten. After that, alone…except for whatever the hell is out there!"

"Big baby. You need me to take care of you? Protect you?"

He sighed. "I don't need you to do anything for me, alright?"

She pushed his arm away from around her and got up. "I'm going to see what it is. You in?"

"No."

Shit… "Fine, I'll go alone."

He let her get out of line sight for a second before jumping up to follow. When they got to the living room, there was nothing.

"See? Just our imaginat…" Tabitha trailed off. "Um, Adeem?"

"I-It wasn't me."

They both stared at the open front door. Tabitha took off running for his bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Tabitha! Open the door."

"No, you go hide somewhere else. You should always split up."

"White people always say it and it's never right! Break the stereotype, Tabitha. Please!"

She opened the door, allowing him entry, before slamming it shut again. They rushed to his closet, huddling in there, hiding. Whatever the hell was out there was never going to find them there. Right? …Right?

* * *

><p>Fang sighed, pulling up to Adeem's house. His parent's car was gone. Tabitha was so dead if she wasn't there. He honked twice. Nothing. He almost pulled away, but noticed that the front door was open. Groaning, he went to the front door to see what they were doing.<p>

"Hey, uh… Saad? You home?" He knocked on the open door. It was dark inside. "Tabitha? You here? Tabby?"

In the closet, Adeem and Tabitha heard him calling out to her, only from so far away, it was muffled and scary sounding.

"Whatever you do, don't respond to it," Adeem whispered in her ear. If this was any other time, he would have noticed that this was the closest they had ever been. She was practically in his lap! Right now was life and death though, so there was no time for that.

Back in the front of the house, Fang was looking for a light switch when he tripped over something.

"Ow!" He jumped up and rushed to one wall, finally finding the switch. Passed out on the floor was Luther. He had blended in with the darkness when the lights were out, but now stood out. He opened his bloodshot eyes and just stared at Fang.

"What are you doin' here?"

"What are you doing here?" Fang asked, not even answering Luther. "How did you get in? And where is Tabitha?"

He sat up, yawning. "Came to find her. Couldn't find the doorbell. I had to pick the lock! No one home. I got…Hey, Fang! When'd you get here?"

Sighing, Fang stepped around his friend and went to the back of the house. "Tabitha, it's me. Your dad. Come out. Now, if you're here."

In Adeem's room, he was now close enough that they recognized his voice. Tabitha pushed her boyfriend away and ran out of the room, towards the sound of her father's voice. Then she noticed Luther.

"What is he doing here?" Adeem asked, coming out of his room. Now that Fang was here, he needed to play it cool. No need for Fang to think that he was a chicken.

"I am not drunk," Luther told Adeem, glaring at him. "You stupid towel head. How dare you lock me…Hey, Fang! When'd you get here?"

Fang shook his head. "Where are your parents, Adeem?"

He looked at the ground. "Away."

"When do they get home?"

"At three."

"In the morning?" He shook his head. "You two go get in the car. Call your parents and tell them that you're staying with me."

They both nodded before going to his room to turn off the TV and get his stuff before going out to the car. Fang went over to Luther, who was now laying down again.

"I cannot believe that you broke into their house. How did you anyways?"

Luther motioned for Fang to come closer. When he did, he whispered. "I just pretended to pick the lock, for fun. Was left unlocked. Hehe."

Fang shook his head. "It's one thing to take my kid from me, it's a complete other to scare her and her friend, Luther."

He closed his eyes. "Can we turn out the lights?"

Fang's back screamed in agony as Fang lifted his friend up and helped him to the car. As the door had not actually been messed with, Fang just closed and locked it before going back to the car.

"Did you call your parent's?" He asked Adeem.

"Yeah. They were kind of mad."

Fang didn't care. There were times he left Tabitha and Tyler home alone, till ten at the most. Three in the morning though was just stupid. "We're taking Luther home and then we're going home. You sleep on the couch, Adeem."

"Okay," he said, not wanting to fight. He had a feeling that when his parents got him tomorrow, they would yell at him enough. No need to make Fang do it too.

* * *

><p>"You smell like weed," I told Fang as he got into bed. "And beer."<p>

"I smell like Luther."

I rolled my eyes. "Did you pick up Tabitha?"

He nodded. "Yeah. And Adeem."

"Hmmm?"

He just shook his head. "Let's just go to sleep and pretend this never happened."

Seeing as I figured I was dreaming anyways, it wasn't hard. Fang brining Adeem to our house? At night? With Tabitha home? I felt like I was the one on something.


	16. Chapter 16

Broken

Chapter 16

There were times that Tabitha hated Luther. There were times that she refused to talk to him. Never, though, had she done this.

"Hey, Tabs, I'm really sorry about…you know. That stuff with your boyfriend and things," Luther said lamely.

For a second, I thought that she'd blow up at him. Instead, after staring at him for a moment, she just shrugged and walked away. Luther looked at me, but I had nothing to say to him. What if he had hurt one of the kids in his stupor? And yes, I do deserve points for using the word stupor.

"That's not good," Luther told me.

"Huh?"

"She didn't even care!" He stared at me, frowning hard. "You know what Fang says, indifference is the opposite of love."

"So she doesn't love you, big deal," I said, laying down. It was after school and Tabitha was the first home. Fang was off to pick up the boys. While I was turning on the TV, Tyler and Lucas walked in. Lucas rode the bus home, but not to school.

"It is a big deal, Max," Luther said, frowning. "Do you not realize what it means for her not to love me?'

"Apparently not."

He shook his head. "I am the best thing in her life."

"No, that would be me," Lucas said. "Who are we talking about anyways?"

"Go away," I told him. Giggling, he ran into the kitchen to get a snack. Tyler started up the stairs.

"Wait," Lance called to him. "Come back, Ty!"

"What?" He turned to look at him.

Chris giggled. "Wanna see my snake?"

"_Que_?"

Lance cleared his throat. "You know how you 'n' Luke are fightin'?"

"Yes."

"Well…we don't like the snake anymore," he said, taking it from Chris and holding it out to him.

"That's my Fred," Lucas raved, coming back into the room. "Give it."

Lance handed it over. "There."

"Aren't you going to yell at them?" Lucas asked. Jason, who was in the chair, sighed.

"Can we listen to Luther complain more? He was more interestin'," he said.

"Thank you," Luther said, nodding his head.

"Told you I didn't freaking take it," Tyler grumbled, walking up the stairs. "God."

Fang walked in then. "Hey, Max- What are you doing here?"

Luther smiled sheepishly. "I came to apologize to Tabitha."

Fang shook his head, closing the door after Cody, Neo, and James walked in. "Have a fun time trying."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, hoping to hurry this along. It was almost time for Teen Mom.

"Mr. Saad called me," Fang said, coming to sit down next to me. "Apparently, they don't like their son's girlfriend's father's crazy, drunk, on whatever the hell you were on friend breaking into their house."

"And?" I asked. I had ten minutes. They needed to finish up and clear out of my living room.

"He doesn't want Tabitha around anymore."

"Elaborate," I ordered, my curiosity slightly sparked.

"She can't come over, she can't call him, she can't…the more I talk, the more I like it, actually," he said, running a hand over my leg. "Tabitha!"

"What?" She walked out of her room and leaned against the railing, standing right above us.

"I guess your boyfriend told you, huh?"

She was quiet for a second. "What's your point?"

"Well, see, I was at Atomic Comics today and saw Jeffery-"

"Stop."

"What?"

Jeffery was a grade above Tyler and Tabitha, but was also more mature than them by like five years. His one weakness?

"I do not want anything to do with that creepy nerd," she said before stomping off. "Just because he likes playing Dragon Ball with you doesn't mean I should freaking marry him!"

"I didn't say you should," Fang called up at her. "I just think that he's a better influence than Adeem."

"I'll take your thoughts into consideration when I blow my brains out," she said before slamming the door.

"She's trying to kill herself now, is she?" Luther sighed. "You guys are bad parents."

"At least she didn't break into a house," I mumbled, laying my head against Fang. "Your parents were way worse."

"That's not fucking funny," Luther said, turning on me. "My mom's dead."

"And mine ain't around," Fang said. "Shut up and leave."

James stared at his father. "Hi, Dad."

Luther ignored him, stomping out of the house. Moody much? I cuddled against Fang.

"Everyone go do something, alright? I'm going to watch TV and you're all too loud."

Cody and James ran off upstairs, Neo and Jason right behind them.

"You too, guys," I told Chris and Lance. They just giggled, sitting back down on the floor.

"We wanna stay with you, Fang…and Max," Lance said. "We love you, Fang…and Max."

I didn't like the pause between my name and Fang's. "Okay Chris…and Lance."

He frowned, sticking his tongue out at me.

* * *

><p>"I love you."<p>

Damien rolled over. "Shhh, Cammie. I'm sleeping."

"But I love you," she repeated, whispering in his ear. "So much. More than I've ever loved anyone, even myself."

Ha, as if that was possible.

He smiled. "Shhh."

"I can't though," she said, kissing the side of his head. "I love you, Damien."

He opened his eyes. "Really?"

She nodded, standing up. "Come here."

"Where?" He asked, following. This was the Cameron he liked. Unfortunately, Damien couldn't see the wool being pulled over his eyes.

"Here," she said, pulling him out of the room and down the stairs. "Now clean the downstairs."

"Huh?"

She walked back up the stairs. "Have fun."

That wasn't even fair.

* * *

><p>"Thought you couldn't hangout with me anymore?"<p>

Adeem sat down next to Tabitha. It was before school and his bus had just gotten there. Until the bell for first rung, they got stuck sitting in the hallway of the front of the school. Tabitha was half watching Tyler across the hall, who was excitedly explaining something to Alex, and listening in on the conversation next to her. Apparently, Jenna's a slut. Shocking.

He shrugged. "Don't be mad at me."

"I'm not."

He sighed. "So…"

She frowned. "You sure that there's no way I can come over again?"

"That's what my dad said."

"Does that mean that we're broken up?"

"No," he said, rolling his eyes. "Of course not."

"Oh, I thought that we were."

"See? That's why you need me."

"Huh?"

"Without me there to guide you, you make a stupid decision."

She wanted to correct him, but didn't have it in her. "You know, when I wasn't allowed to see you anymore, I moved out."

"So?"

"Guess I care more about you than you do me."

Duh.

"You know what though?"

"What?"

He gave her his baseball cap, the usual signal that he was throwing in the towel, their symbol of a white flag. "I don't care what my dad says. He's just a stuck up old man. I like you, like, a lot, and whatever he says is just that. Saying stuff. Don't mean nothing to me."

She smiled, reaching up to take the hat off her head. It was a Yankee's hat. "My dad hates the Yankees."

"I hate your dad, so we're good."

She just rolled her eyes.

* * *

><p>I was sleeping on the job, a favorite past time of mine, you should try it, when Slice walked in. Or Keith. Whatever.<p>

"Hi," he said. I knew it was him by his voice. I just grunted. It had been awhile since I saw him. Not even with Luther being back in town had he ever decided to drop by. Unlike my husband, he grew up at some point and started being a man. Too bad Fang and Damien didn't take notes…

"Max, look."

Sighing, I looked up…right into a baby carrier. "You had a kid?"

"Well, not personally," he said. "I mean, that would be a complex thing for a man. Did my wife have one though? Yep."

I smiled a sleepy smile. It was a boy, or so I assumed, as all babies pretty much look indistinguishable unless they're your own. He was wrapped in a blue blanket.

"What's his name?"

"Triton."

"Ooh," I said, though I was actually trying not to laugh. "Better than Trojan, I guess."

He frowned before shaking his head. "I actually came to see Fang."

"Home today," I said after cooing at the baby. "Some game was on."

He nodded his head. "I just wanted to show him Triton."

I smiled, not sure if it was from happiness for Slice or from the funniness of the word Triton.

"I'll tell him you came by," I said. "Were you gonna buy something too or-"

"No, Max, I'm not into this stuff anymore," he said as if he was some how above anime, as if he were better than my husband. Well…

"See ya then, Slice."

"Keith."

"Whatever."

* * *

><p>A few weeks later, it was finally Thanksgiving break. Cameron was not in the least bit happy about Samantha being home all week.<p>

"What's wrong with you?" Damien asked as his wife walked into the kitchen, a frown that was seemingly imprinted on her face looking a little grim. "You alright?"

"Fine," she said curtly, sitting down at the table. Damien just shook his head, setting a plate of eggs on the table in front of her. Samantha, who had already been eating, smiled at her mother.

"Guess what, Mom? I had a great dream last night," Sam said, taking a bite of toast. "Wanna know what it was about?"

Ignoring her, Cameron asked Damien to get her a fork. He gave her one while asking, "What was it about, Sammy?"

"Jared."

Damien shook his head, sitting down. "Why can't you stop talking about boys? I don't like it."

"Why not?"

"You're way too young to even think about that kind of stuff."

She just shook her head. "I love Jared. He's in Tyler's grade. I love Tyler…and Lucas."

Now that the Neo thing had blown over and Samantha's love of older men was starting to flare again, Lucas and Tyler were back in.

"Stop it!" Damien stared down at his plate. "Really, just stop."

"But-"

"Leave him alone, Samantha," Cameron ordered, staring at him. "Your father is just a baby. He didn't even have a girlfriend until he was in his twenties."

He frowned. "There's nothing wrong with that. That's how it should be."

"What happened to her?" Samantha asked, though she already knew.

"I am her, stupid."

She just smiled, staring at her mother. "It's not nice to say the word stupid."

"Really? Well, I really don't give a-"

"Cameron, stop," Damien said. "I made you breakfast and you just cause problems. Please let this be a good day."

"Any day with me should be a good day, Damien," she said.

"If only that were true."

* * *

><p>"What are you doing?" I asked Chris.<p>

"Making turkeys," he told me as Lance traced his hand. "For Thanksgivin'."

"You're up early," Fang said as I moved past the two boys and sat down on the couch. "It's only ten."

"Haha."

"Why are you laughing," he asked. "There was no joke."

"Just saw your face and couldn't help myself."

He rolled his eyes. "So what are we going to do today?"

"I was going to just sleep, but then I got this massive headache and couldn't sleep if my life depended on it."

Looking genuinely concerned for my welfare, Fang asked, "Are you alright? Do you need me to get you something?"

"No," I said, shaking my head a little. "I just want to watch TV."

"Alright then."

"And not whatever the crap you have it on."

Sighing loudly, he made Lance go take me the remote. "There? Happy?"

"Yeah," I said, smiling a little when Lance bowed after giving me the remote. He had suddenly been on a kick about Asian and formed a fascination with bowing to his superiors. "Do you want to make me something to eat?"

"No."

Didn't think so.

"Will you though?"

"Yeah, what choice do I have?"

"Don't make it sound like that."

"Why? Does it make you feel bad?"

"No, of course not," I said, cuddling into the couch. "It just kind of annoys me, like a fly buzzing in my ear."

"Fly?" He gave me a blanket. "I can't even be a freaking bee?"

I smiled, giving him a kiss. "Just go make me my food."

"Can I get a please?"

"Now."

* * *

><p>The next day, Iggy came to town. About two hours later, Fang came home from picking up Angel from the airport. Who else was with them?<p>

"Who's that?" I asked Fang after I gave Angel a hug. "I know that's not her-"

"It is."

I know that Angel and I haven't had the best relationship. It had been patched a little that Christmas after Bone left, but it still wasn't all that wonderful. Still, I did not approve of my twenty-two year old dating a guy that's old enough to be my father!

"Max, this is Ricky," she said, smiling at me. I just stared at him. He was what? Forty? Fifty?

"Hi," I said, giving him a smile back, if only to keep up appearances.

"You're old," Neo said, making him and Jason both laugh. Lance stared at him.

"I like your hair," he said. "Gray and black are my fav'it colors."

"Shush," Fang said as Chris stood up. He went over to Angel, staring up at her.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi."

"You're p'etty," he said before giggling. "P'etty 'ike Mommy."

Fang picked him up, setting the toddler on his shoulders. "Shhh, Chris."

"Angel!" Lucas came running down the stairs, along with Tyler.

"Can I have a hug?" Tyler asked, staring _very_ inappropriately at her.

"Me first!" Lucas yelled.

She looked uneasily around. "Where's Tabitha?"

"At her boyfriend's," Fang said, frowning at Tyler. "Iggy's here, just upstairs."

"He's in the bathroom," I said as the younger boys got bored with us. Fang sat Chris on the ground and they all went back to what they were doing before. Coloring in a color book or playing with Buzz Lightyear.

"Well…when does Nudge get here?"

"Tomorrow," I said, still staring at Ricky. "Um…I was doing dishes before you came. You and Ricky can go upstairs to Tabitha's room. Lucas can show you where it is."

"No, I can," Tyler said.

"She asked me first," Lucas yelled.

"Actually, Max, I'll help you with the dishes," Angel said. "Rick can take my bag up there."

"I'll help with the dishes," Tyler offered.

"Me too," Lucas said.

"No, you two go help Ricky take the bags upstairs," I said, dragging Angel into the kitchen. "Fang, you too."

After they were up the stairs and I knew that the young ones were engrossed in their activities, I began.

"Angel…what are you doing with that guy?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, going over to the sink.

"He's…eighty!"

"I love him."

"Angel."

She turned to look at me. "Max, this guy might be old, but look at this."

She grabbed the necklace around her neck. "Diamonds, Max. I have pearls in my freaking suitcase."

"So what?"

"I get this," she waved the necklace in my face, "from him." She held up her hand. "I get my manicure from him." She grabbed her hair. "I get this done with his money." Then she grabbed her breasts. "I got these from him."

"What? Angel, he has nothing to do with-"

"He bought me breast implants," she said. "You didn't notice?"

"Well…they are bigger, but-"

"Max, if I have to fuck a guy with a liver spots and suck his nasty, old cock to get this, fine," she turned back to the counter. "Like you wouldn't fuck a guy to get whatever you wanted."

I shook my head at her. "Still, Angel. It's nasty. Are you at least on birth control? Don't get knocked up by some old guy."

"I've been on birth control since I was fifteen, alright?" She turned on the water and started on the dishes. "I'm not you."

"Yeah, because I wouldn't be doing that guy."

"That's your life," she said, shrugging. "It's not like he's the only guy I'm with anyways, Max."

I rolled my eyes. "I just don't think that you're doing something that's all that great for your life."

"What's not?" Fang came into the kitchen. Yawning, he pulled me to him, giving me a kiss on the side of the head.

"Nothing," I said, pushing him away. "Hey, did you ever tell Tabby that Angel and Rick are using her room?"

"I thought that you did?"

"No," I stared up at his face. "Fang…"

"It's not that big of deal," he said, shrugging. "You act like she's a little brat that will get mad. It's Tabitha. She won't care that she's sleeping on the couch in the attic."

* * *

><p>I was on the couch when Tabitha came home, watching the Kardashians. She was now allowed to go there again. Mr. Saad wasn't happy about it, but his wife made him allow her back into their home.<p>

"Hey, Max," she said, closing the door behind her. "Adeem's mom took me home. Oh, and Adeem wants to know if I can come over for Thanksgiving. I told him yeah, so can I? His brother's in town and he's going to take us to-"

"Hi, Tab," Chris randomly yelled. She frowned, looking down at him.

"Hi."

"Gonna sleep with us?" Lance asked.

"Huh?"

"Angel and Rick in your room. Sleep in our room!" He smiled at her. "Please?"

She frowned, looking at me. "What's he talking about?"

"Angel and her boyfriend are going to be using your bedroom," I said. "You're staying on the couch in the attic, because Iggy needs the one down here."

"What?" She stared at me. "Ew! Max, what if they-"

"Hi, Tabitha," Angel said, coming down the stairs. It was still kind of weird for me, seeing her all grown up. I mean, geez, she was a freaking sugar baby, a gold digger, a slut. It made my stomach hurt, looking at her blonde hair and way too big breasts that Tyler and Lucas liked so much. When did they all get so old? When did I get so old?

"You're taking my room," Tabitha said, staring at the woman.

"Yeah, thanks for-"

"You are taking my room," she repeated, now clearly not okay with this.

"I know," Angel said, frowning.

"Hey, baby?" Fang came into the living room from the garage. "Think that we can get a pool table? There's room for it in the- Hey, Tabs."

Tabitha didn't blink. "She's taking my room."

"Angel?" Ricky came down the stairs, stopping behind Angel. "Hey, is this Tabitha? Hi. I've heard a lot about-"

"Who are you?" Tabitha asked, frowning at him. At least she wasn't repeating herself anymore.

"This is my boyfriend," Angel said, taking his hand. "Ricky."

"Ew!" She screeched. "Max, I do not want an old man having freaking sex in my bed!"

"Tabitha-"

"You're all sick," she said, moving away from us. "You make me give up my bed for her and then you also let this old, nasty man in it too?"

"Stop, Tabitha," Fang said, glancing at me. Lance looked up at her.

"What's sex?" He asked.

She ignored him. "That's nasty, Angel."

Ricky cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with this whole thing. "I think I'll be going back upstairs."

"Not into my bedroom," Tabitha said quickly.

"Tabitha, stop it," Fang growled, grabbing her arm.

Ricky relented. "You know what? Angel, let's stay at a hotel tonight, alright?"

"Sure," she said, just staring at Tabitha.

"That's where all the prostitutes go anyways," Tabitha said. Fang picked her up and carried her into the kitchen before slamming the backdoor behind them.

* * *

><p>"I cannot believe that you…" Fang just trailed off, shaking his head. "What is wrong with you, Tabitha Rose? Huh? What the hell were you thinking? What? Please, tell me. I'd <em>love<em> to know."

She crossed her arms, not looking at her father. "I don't want him in my bedroom!"

"Why?"

"It's nasty. I don't want Angel in there either. It's my room."

Fang shook his head. "Tabitha, you're the only one with their own room. Hell, I have to share a room with Max! So what if you have to give it up just this once? Sometimes you act like such a little…"

"Little what?"

"Brat," Fang said. "I was going to say brat."

"No, you weren't."

He looked back at her, his eyes hard again. "Don't you tell me what I was going to say, Tabitha. You want me to hit you? Huh?"

"Go ahead! I'll hit you back."

He just shook his head at her. "I expected more out of you, Tabitha. And what do you know about prostitutes anyways?"

"I'm twelve, Dad, almost thirteen."

"So what?"

She rolled her eyes. "Am I grounded or what?"

"Don't you roll your eyes at me, Tabitha."

"Am I?"

He looked away. "You go apologize to Angel and Ricky."

"But am I grounded?"

"Just get out of my face, alright?"

* * *

><p>"You don't have to leave," I told Angel.<p>

"It's fine," she said, shrugging. "Hey, is Gasman coming? Or-"

"No," I sighed. "He is for Christmas though."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

We both stared at each other for a second. I sighed. "So…you got a boob job?"

"Yeah…"

"That's cool."

"Yep."

I sighed as Ricky came down the stairs. "Guess I'll see you guys at Mom's later."

She gave me a hug. "Bye, Max."

"See you later," I said, going to open the door for her and Ricky. I had closed it behind them when Tyler and Lucas came running down the stairs.

"Wait!" Tyler looked at me. "Where did she go?"

"Fang," I called. "Come talk to them."

Then I went to the bedroom to take a nap.

* * *

><p>"What are you guys doing?"<p>

Damien didn't look up. "Shhh, Cameron. You'll break our concentration."

"What are you doing though?"

Sam giggled, looking up at her mother. "Building."

"Hand me another, Sam," Damien said. Still laughing, she handed her father another cotton swab. He used the hot glue gun to dab a little on it before sticking it onto something.

"What are you doing? I'll only ask you one more time before I-"

"It's a dog," Damien said. She turned her head, staring at it. Now she could kind of see it.

"It sucks."

"I'm not done yet, alright?" He had snapped at her, but only because she wouldn't leave them alone. It wasn't his fault.

"Don't you yell at me, Damien. I'll step on the damn thing," she said before walking back out of the shed. Sam frowned.

"Mom said a bad word."

He sighed. "Hand me another cotton swab."

* * *

><p>I was standing in the bathroom after my nap, my side facing the mirror as I looked at myself critically, when Fang came into the bathroom.<p>

"Wow," he mumbled, coming up behind me. "Are we planning on being nudist or something?"

I frowned at him in the mirror. "I'm not naked."

"You're braless," he said, running his hands down my bare stomach. "All you have on is your panties."

"So?"

He laid his head on my shoulder. "Why? What are you doing?"

"Just looking at myself," I mumbled, running my own hands down my stomach. "You know…comparing."

"To what?"

"Other people…"

"Like who?"

"I don't know," I said.

"Max, the only other girl in the house is Tabitha. If you're wanting her body, you'd be heavier than you are now and be flat chested."

I rolled my eyes. "Fang, Tabitha is not flat chested."

"How would you know?"

"I took her bra shopping last week-"

"Nope," he said, turning me to face him and putting a hand over my mouth. "No, no way. Shush."

I pushed his hand off. "It's not the first bra she's had, Fang."

"Shut up."

"Bet you'd just love to hear about her period."

"Shut up," he repeated, turning me back around and pulling me to him so that my back was pressed against his chest. "Shut up, shut up, shut up."

"Why?" I looked up at him. "Does it make you-"

"I said shut up."

I looked back at the mirror. "But look at me."

"Hmmm?"

"I look horrible."

Fang pinched my stomach, making me elbow him. Having a grim look on his face, or so it seemed in the mirror, Fang said, "Max, you don't even have any fat on you at all. If you weighed any less, you'd die! I already told you, Tabitha weighs more than you."

"Are you calling Tabby fat?"

"No," he said. "I'm calling you way too skinny. Tabby's 111, Max. What are you?"

"98 pounds."

"Max," he sighed, sounding tired of me. "Are you serious?"

"Yes!"

"Then what are you complaining about?" He wrapped his arms around. "You are way too skinny, Max. My God."

I looked down at my body. "It's just…I've had so many kids."

"You know our bodies are messed up," he said. "We lose weight too fast. You starving yourself on top of that is horrible."

I stared at his face in the mirror. "Anyways, what about my breasts?"

"We are not talking about Tabitha and bras anymore."

"No," I said, frowning. "I mean, look at mine. They're…do you like them?"

He reached up, watching my face in the mirror as he grabbed my boobs. "Yeah."

"Do you think I should get a boob job?"

I saw his face in the mirror as he weighed his options. He knew that there was no right answer for this. "Well…I like your breasts. A lot. I always have. They're perfect."

"I think that they're kind of small."

He frowned. "Who told you that?"

"No one."

"Well, who got a boob job?"

"Huh?"

"You wouldn't be asking about it unless someone you knew got one. Who?"

I looked away from the mirror. "Angel."

He dropped my boobs. "What?"

"Yeah, I know. Ricky paid for it."

Sighing, he pulled me back to him. "I don't like her with him."

"Neither do I."

"Is this the guy that she backpacked through Europe with?" Fang asked.

"No," I said. "Like that guy could backpack through anything."

"He's so…old."

"Not really," I sighed. "He's only forty something, or so she said."

"Fifty's more like it."

I sighed, leaning back against him. "Did you talk to Tabitha?"

"Yeah," he said. "I can't believe she said that."

"I think that she's jealous."

He frowned. "She had better not be thinking about that fifty something perv-"

"No, of Angel," I said, looking up at him. "That's why she's so upset that I gave Angel the room. She thinks that I'm choosing Angel over her. Remember that one time that Angel was here? It was the year after Bone left? She came down to spend a few weeks with us and stayed with Mom? She flipped every time I went out with Angel alone. She got upset when I called Angel my first baby, remember? Neo asked how I knew her and I said that I took care of Angel first?"

"I remember," Fang mumbled, closing his eyes. "Why does she care so much?"

"Think about it, Fang," I said, sighing. "She likes to think that she's your and my favorite girl in the world. She thinks that she's the only daughter we ever want to have."

"What about Nudge?"

I shook my head. "Mom took care of Nudge, remember? Me and Nudge like each other too. Tabitha didn't like Angel for the longest time because Angel did all those things to me. Now though, she's supposed to suddenly be okay with her."

"No one else is having these problems."

I ran a hand down the arm that was wrapped around my stomach. "Yeah, well."

"She loves you a lot."

"Angel?"

"No," he said, kissing the side of my head. "Tabby. She doesn't like that admit it, but she loves you more than anyone."

"That's not true," I said. "She loves you too."

"Not like you," he said, smelling my hair. "She's always loved you; she just doesn't like you to know."

"I do know though."

He kissed me again before walking out of the bathroom. "I'm taking a nap. You go ahead and stare at your body. I like it just the way it is, if not the way it is, then a little bigger. Max, you are too skinny and you know it."

"I am not."

He just shook his head.

* * *

><p>It was the next day and Adeem and Tabitha were eating pizza as they watched Saw in his bedroom. His parents said that he was too young to watch it, and no doubt Fang would agree about Tabitha, but they didn't care. Besides, Max would probably let her watch it.<p>

"What are you guys doing?" Rashad, his oldest brother, came into the room. "Oh, watching rated R movies."

"Shut up," Adeem said, frowning at him. "Like you didn't either."

Rashad smiled at them. "So, am I taking you guys out on Thanksgiving or not?"

"Yeah," Adeem said, settling back into the bed. Tabitha moved away from him a little. "Right, Tabby?"

"Yes," she said, looking away from the movie and to his older brother. He just smiled at her.

"You know, Adeem, Jamal will be here tomorrow. He can take you guys."

"No, he can't," Adeem said. "Now go away. We're watching a movie."

"A movie that you shouldn't be watching."

"It really isn't any of your business," Adeem said. "Better than those things you and your girlfriend watched."

Rashad laughed. "And what would you know about that?"

"I had a room next to yours at the old house. You weren't quiet."

"Ew, shut up," Tabitha said, pushing him.

Shaking his head, Rashad walked back out of the room. Tabitha laid her head closer to his again, now that his brother was gone.

"You knew that your brother was having sex?"

He shrugged. "I knew when he was jerking off too."

"Adeem."

"What?" He looked back at the movie. "You don't know when Tyler's-"

"Shut up."

"You're family's so weird."

"No, yours is," she said. "If we have sex, I wouldn't do it when Tyler's right next door."

He looked at her. "We're having sex?"

"Not now!"

"Oh…"

She frowned at her boyfriend before reaching over him to grab another piece of pizza out of the box on the floor. "We're not having sex, Adeem."

"I heard you the first time."

"You better have."

* * *

><p>"My brother's coming to town again in January."<p>

"Really?" Tyler didn't look up.

"Yeah," she said, staring at him from across the room. They were in her bedroom, him on the floor reading a comic, her on the bed reading a book for class. She had to have it finished by the time that break ended. "Remember, last January, he came home and you never even saw him. You just said that you were sick and couldn't come over."

Tyler sighed. "Alex, remember when I got a girlfriend?"

"Yes."

"And I stopped talking to you?"

"Yeah."

"And you told Manny and he was going to beat me up?"

She frowned. "Are you still afraid that he's going to hurt you?"

"No," Tyler said, looking back down at his Spiderman comic. "I'm afraid that he'll try to hurt me and, on instinct, I hurt him."

"Yeah, sure."

"What do you mean by that?" He looked at her. "I'm stronger than stupid Manuel."

"I know you are," she sighed.

"Are you coming over to eat on Thanksgiving?" Tyler asked her, wanting to change the subject.

"No," she said. "I'm going to my aunt's house."

"Am I not invited?"

Alex looked away from him. "Um…I'm kind of going there to hangout with someone."

"Well, I know all your cousins."

"It's not one of my cousins."

He frowned. "Then who?"

"Just someone that lives next door," she mumbled, going back to her book.

"Who?"

"His name is Jorge," she said, smiling a little.

Tyler blinked. "Oh."

"I mean…it would just be weird if you came. You two don't know each other and stuff…"

"No, I understand," Tyler said, looking at the clock on her dresser. "I should probably call Max to take me home now."

"Why?" She stared at him. "You don't have to go yet, Ty."

"I have stuff to do."

"Like what?"

"Stuff, okay?"

"But like what?"

He looked around the room. "Me and Jenna have been talking on the phone everyday around this time."

Jenna? Slutty Jenna? "Really?"

No, of course not. Jenna, who was Tabitha's friend, thought that he was disgusting and told him on a regular basis.

"Yes," Tyler said, starting to get his things. "I'll see you when you get back, I guess."

"Yeah, I guess," she said, handing him her cell so that he could call Max. "_Te amos_, Tyler."

"Yeah, whatever."

She frowned at he walked out of the room when he was finished, not even saying goodbye. He went to go wait outside for Max. When the car pulled up, it was Fang instead.

"Max was busy," Fang said. He expected Tyler to ask him what Max was doing, which was going shopping with Nudge, who was newly engaged, and Angel, who hopefully would never be engaged to that old perv.

Tyler just buckled his seat belt, not saying a thing. Fang frowned, turning down the radio as he pulled away from the house.

"What's wrong, Ty? You okay?"

Tyler just nodded, laying his head against the window. Jorge? What kind of name was Jorge anyways? Stupid Jorge. Tyler was a Christian man, after all, but he already hated Jorge. Alex didn't know what she was doing. Tyler was way better than Jorge. For one, Tyler loved her. Did Jorge? Jorge was just a loser. Probably wore his hat backwards like Adeem and thought that he was cool, also like Adeem. That reminded him, he also hated Adeem.

"You sure?" Fang asked. "What happened?"

"Nothing," he mumbled, knowing that his father really didn't care. "Nothing at all."

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the lateness of the chapter. Went on a little vacation, but I'm back now. <strong>


	17. Chapter 17

Broken

Chapter 17

Nudge and Drake were finally engaged. This, as she complained about many times, still wasn't married so they couldn't have sex yet.

"Really?" Angel seemed shocked. "Never?"

"No," she said, popping the tab on her soda. "We never have. We never will, until we get married."

I thought about Fang and I, those ten months that they we weren't have sex. Could we have gone for years on end? Probably not.

"Mom!" Cody came running into the kitchen. "Where's Grandma?"

"I don't know," I told him as James came into the room. "Why?"

"We need her," he said, looking around. "Where's Drake?"

"Him and Amber are out back," I said. "Why don't you go ask Amber to play with you?"

"She's mean," James said and Cody nodded.

"What does she do?" I asked while Nudge sighed. Every time that the boys saw Amber, they always tried to keep away from her.

"She's just mean," James told me, their normal response to the question. "So, you know where Dr. Martinez is?"

"Nope. Try her room," I said. They nodded, walking out of the kitchen. "Where's Ricky, Angel?"

"With Fang and Iggy in the living room, right?"

I hope not, for his sake anyways.

* * *

><p>"Damien, it's Thanksgiving."<p>

"I know," he mumbled, his head pressed against the counter. He was in his shed, having fallen asleep while working on something. "You said that you don't want to go to my parents, right?"

"Right."

"Well then what, Cameron?"

She hit him in the head. "Nothing, Damien. Never mind."

He sighed, lifting his head up. "Cameron, you don't want to go to my family's, you refused your brother. What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know, Damien. I just came out here to wake you up," she said, crossing her arms. "You know, I thought that we were fighting or something last night. You didn't come in at all. What were you doing? Huh? Huh?"

He sighed, running a hand over his face. Yesterday, his mom took Sam off his hands so that she could go with her grandparents to Trinity's family's house. Damien originally planned to go, but Cameron said no. He thought that they would have a romantic few days alone, but no. Cameron was being her normal, bad word self.

"Do you want to go out for dinner?"

"No."

"Are you wanting me to make dinner?"

"No."

"Then what, Cammie?"

"I don't know," she sighed, looking away from him. Damien sighed, standing up.

"I meant to come to bed, Cameron, I really did," he said, forcing her to look at him. "I just wanted to finish what I was doing and fell asleep. I'm sorry."

She just stared at him. "You really should come to bed at night, Damien."

"I know. One time slip."

Nodding her head, she added, "We can just order a pizza for dinner, if you want."

He shrugged. "Whatever you want, Lois."

Her nose crinkled. "What?"

"Lois. Like Lois Lane."

"Oh, I know," she said. "It's just been a long time since you've called me that."

"Yeah…you don't call me Superman that much anymore either."

She gave him kiss. "I love you like my Superman though."

He smiled. "I love you too, Cam."

"Good," she said. "Wanna show me what you were working on?"

He handed her an open sketch pad. "The first thing I did was try and draw our house. Then I started getting really, really into detail. Like, look in that window."

"Here?" She asked, pointing to the bay window that showed the staircase.

"Yeah."

She looked. "Is that-"

"Yeah, Sam and Bubba climbing the stairs," he said. "Then look at the yard. See? The tree? Looks like a photo, huh?"

She just laid the sketch pad back down. "Come to the bedroom when you're done drawing for nothing, Damien."

"Why?"

She just smiled. "I haven't taken a shower yet today. Neither have you."

He frowned. Was she saying that he smelled? "Oh."

Rolling her eyes, she turned to walk away. "Just come upstairs, Damien. Maybe you'll learn what I mean on the way up. If not…I guess I'll just have to show you."

Frowning, he started putting his drawing pencils away. Guess she would…

* * *

><p>Tabitha and Adeem were sitting in the backseat of Rashad's car as he took them to an animal shelter. They were going to pick out a dog for Adeem's father.<p>

"You know that Dad is going to be angry with you," Rashad said.

"It's his birthday present," Adeem tried.

"You know that he does not celebrate those," his older brother said. "If a holiday does not have to do with Allah, it should not exist."

"Well, he can just suffer," Adeem said. "Who doesn't like dogs? Even Tabitha likes dogs."

She frowned. "What are you trying to say?"

"That you don't like anything."

"Shut up, Adeem."

"See? You don't even like me and I'm your boyfriend."

For now anyways. She sighed, leaning against the window. "Why do we have to get a dog? I think that your dad is more of a cat person."

"Because I want a dog."

"Why?"

"Why do you care? You don't even like cats."

"I do too…kind of."

He pulled out his cell phone when it rang. "Ew, it's Jenna."

Slutty Jenna? "For your or for me?"

"I don't talk to her, so here," he said, handing over the phone.

"What, Jenna?" She answered. Jenna must be calling because Tabitha had left her phone at home. Right?

"Oh, hey, Tabitha," slutty said. "Um…I actually called to talk to Adeem."

Tabitha was not amused. She basically threw the phone at him. "She wants to talk to you."

He just picked up the phone. "Hello? Yeah. No…yep….so, see you later tonight at your house? Cool, I'll-"

She snatched the phone from him. Jenna had already hung up. "You're so stupid!"

Laughing, he allowed her to hit him. "What?"

"Stop it guys," Rashad said from the front seat. "Why can't the two of you just be nice to each other? Just this once?"

Adeem grabbed her hand as she withdrew, moving back to her own seat.

"What's wrong with Jenna?" Adeem asked, still holding her hand.

"You know what's wrong with Jenna."

"I don't," Rashad said. "What did Jenna ever do?"

She slept with, like, five guys and blew this one. Nasty. Tabitha pulled her hand from Adeem's and laid against the window again.

"Nothing's wrong with Jenna," Adeem said. "Nothing at all."

"Adeem, I swear to God."

"I don't believe in your god, so go ahead."

"Keep going," she said. "No, really, keep it up. Because nothing's wrong with Jordan either. Or Ricardo. And there ain't a damn thing wrong with A.J."

"Hey, you two stop," Rashad said. "No cursing."

"Yeah, Tabitha," Adeem said smugly.

"That's what A.J. will be moaning if you don't stop."

He felt like hitting her. "You know, A.J. was my friend."

Best friend, really, but she knew that guys aren't allowed to say best friend. "Was?"

"Yeah, well."

"You also was my boyfriend."

"And Jenna was just a friend."

She closed her eyes tight. "I'm never talking to you again."

* * *

><p>Drake was outback, playing with his daughter, when Lucas came outside.<p>

"Drake?"

"What?" He asked, turning to face him. At the moment, he was throwing around a Frisbee with Amber.

"Max said that you need to come inside."

"Why?"

"Fang punched Ricky and now they need someone to watch us."

Drake sighed. "Come on, Amber."

They went inside, where Lance and Chris were at the kitchen table, eating crackers.

"Where is everybody?"

"Cody and James are in the living room, Grandma is looking at Ricky's eye, Mom took Dad home, Tyler is hiding…I think, Tabby's with Adeem, Neo and Jason are with Angel, because they got upset when Fang hit Ricky."

"Where's Nudge?" Drake asked as Amber went over to Chris and Lance. She got them some spray cheese out of the cupboard, making the little boys cheer.

"She went with Max," Lucas said. "Does this mean that Thanksgiving is off? If it is, can I go home? My cricket was on its last leg of life and I would like to know if it's dead yet."

"Why didn't you go with your mom?"

"She said no."

"Then I have to say no," Drake sighed. "Why did Fang punch Ricky?"

"Because Ricky is an asshole," Iggy said, walking into the room. "Hey, Luke, can you help me find Tyler?"

"No," Lucas said.

"Excuse me?"

"Iggy, I have to get home and check on my grasshopper!"

He sighed. "He'll be just as dead when you get home."

"No, he might still be warm!"

Amber made a face. "You're nasty, Lucas."

"Shush, Amber," Drake said, going over to Lance and Chris. "Do you know where Tyler is?"

"Nope," Lance said, shaking his head. "Thanks, Amber. We like cheese. Huh, Chris?"

"Yeah," he said, trying to figure out how to get the cheese out of the can. Lance reached over and put some on the cracker for him.

"I'll find Tyler," Drake sighed. "Watch them, Iggy."

"Haven't been able to watch anyone since I was-"

"You know what I mean."

* * *

><p>"I can't believe that you did that."<p>

"I heard you the first four hundred times."

I sighed, staring at Fang. "Why did you hit him?"

"I don't like him," Fang said, going to sit down on the couch. Nudge shook her head, going up the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

"To find out if the damn cricket is dead or not," she said. "That's all your son has talked about."

I rolled my eyes before looking back at my husband. "What did he say?"

"Nothing," Fang said, closing his eyes as he settled into the couch. "He just…I don't like him, Max."

"Okay, so what?"

"What do you mean, so what? You know that if I don't like someone, I take care of it."

"No, Fang," I said. "I know that the old you did that. The teen you did that. Fang, you're a grown ass man. You don't do that anymore."

"What do you want, Max? He's freaking boning Angel and thinks that just because she's okay with it, I should be too. Ha, as if. Just because he's giving her shit, doesn't meant that she should be alright with this, Max!"

"You don't think that I don't know that?" I just shook my head. "Fang, he's so old you could have given him a heart attack."

"He's so old, he probably shit himself."

We both smiled at each other.

"Come here," he sighed, pulling on my hands to make me sit in his lap. "Don't' be mad at me, Maxie."

I leaned against him. "I just don't get why you punched him. What did he say?"

Fang sighed, wrapping his arms around me. "Iggy asked him if he had any kids. He laughed and said including Angel, five. He called her a kid, Max! If he thinks of her as a kid, why would he-"

"Calm down," I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You had just better hope that Angel forgives you and Ricky doesn't call the cops on you."

Fang just snorted before kissing me again. "I always thought that I'd look good in a jumpsuit."

"You would look wonderful in one."

"Not as great as you would look in page nine of that magazine that you took up from Tyler."

I frowned. "Which one?"

"The lingerie one."

"Again, which one?"

He just smiled. "One that you got two weeks ago."

I rolled my eyes. "Fang, he needs to quit getting those."

"You need to stop buying them."

"Me? I just get them for you," I said, closing my eyes. "You're the one that likes them."

"I like telling you what I like in them and hoping that you buy them."

"I have before."

"Not that often."

"Fang, I don't like wearing stuff like that."

"And?"

"Okay, fine," I said. "You start using tips to grow your cock and I'll wear those stupid things."

"I do not want to be in this house," Nudge said, coming down the stairs. "And if this is marriage, I don't want to be married."

Fang frowned. "Take Max's car back to Dr. Martinez's. We'll be there soon."

"Whatever, just don't tell me about it," she said, taking the keys off the coffee table.

After she was gone, I smiled up at Fang, running a hand down his chest.

"I don't know about page nine, but we still have page two."

He smiled, picking me up and taking me to our bedroom.

* * *

><p>"Tyler?" Drake pulled down the attic stairs. After some prompting, Lucas admitted that he had pushed them up, sealing his half brother inside. "Are you up there?"<p>

Silence. Sighing, he started up the stairs. "I do not want to be climbing these or looking for you. So when I find you, you are so dead."

Tyler cuddled deeper into the darkness, hidden by boxes of stuff that Dr. Martinez had long forgotten about. He was upset, as he should be. How could Alex leave him?

"Tyler, Lucas told me what was wrong," Drake said once he made it to the top of the staircase. "I get it, Trust me, I've had girls break up with me before."

Yeah, whatever. Drake probably was the one that did the breaking. He probably had a million friends and mom that loved him and a dad that played with him and a perfect life. Tyler closed his eyes, wishing that he was more like his father, that he could become invisible by just staying still.

"Are you going to come out or do I have to look for you?"

Groaning when he got no response, Drake went on, looking for the boy. After ten minutes, he gave up.

"Fine, Tyler, stay up here. See if I care. Just know that, when you want to come down, you can."

Then he was gone. Tyler sniffled. No one ever keeps looking for him.

* * *

><p><strong>December<strong>

Thanksgiving in general was a bust. The sex, alright, nothing spectacular. Whatever. Angel left without a word to us, with her living pay check on the first class plane with her.

"Are you awake?"

I didn't open my eyes. "What do you want, Tyler?"

"I need to ask you something," he said.

"What?"

"If you liked someone, like a lot, would you tell them?"

"I love you, Tyler."

"Not me, Max."

"Who do I like?"

"It's a hypothetical question."

I opened my eyes. "Hypothetical?"

"It means-"

"I know what it means. I just didn't know that you knew what it meant," I told him.

"Are you calling me stupid?"

I sighed. "Tyler, if I liked someone, I would tell them. What's the worst that can happen?"

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I am," I said, rolling over. "Now go away, I'm sleeping. You have school soon."

"Bye, Mama. I love you."

"Yeah, whatever."

* * *

><p>"After school, you have to come over," Adeem told Tabitha.<p>

"I don't have to do anything."

"Please?" He gave her his Gatorade.

"Why?"

"I'm going to give Shark Bait a bath."

"So?"

"When my mom got my dad to agree to let me keep the dog, you agreed that you'd help me take care of it."

"I refuse to take care of a dog named Shark Bait."

"Well, I refuse to take care of a dog named Mystic."

"I also offered up Midnight and Sasha."

"Sasha is stupid."

"It's a girl dog, Adeem. She needs a girl name."

He looked at her in disbelief as he ate his chips. "How is Shark Bait not a girl name? In fact, I think it should be my first daughter's name."

She rolled her eyes. "I am never having a kid with you."

"Who said that it would be with you?"

As if to save him, his friends finally showed up and sat down, changing the subject. To keep Tabitha at bay, he gave her the rest of his chips. No need to be shown up in front of his friends, minus A.J., who now sat with the rejects, i.e. the table next to Tyler and Alex's. Their table was below reject. A.J., however, was not a reject, just no longer acceptable, as ruled by Adeem. Everyone did what Adeem wanted, who did mainly what Tabitha wanted. Not this though. A.J.'s downfall was his own doing.

* * *

><p>Lance and Chris were playing with their fire truck when Jason came into the living room.<p>

"I wanna play."

Chris followed Lance's lead, always, so he rolled it over to Jason when Lance nodded. "There."

Jason rolled it around for a second before jumping up, taking the truck with him.

"What are you doing?" Lance asked, frowning.

"Taking it. It's mine now."

Chris almost started crying as Jason ran back up the stairs, but Lance stopped him.

"Don't," he said. "We were done anyways. Now he'll leave us alone. Let's go find Fang."

Chris nodded, standing up. They ran into the kitchen. Fang was sweeping.

"Hi, boys," he said, not looking up. "Are you done playing fireman?"

"Yes," Lance said, going over to Snickers. "Hi, kitty."

She hissed before running off. Chris giggled, looking at the pile of stuff Fang was making on the floor. "T'ash."

"Yeah, it is trash, huh? Maybe if these stupid cats didn't shed so much, it wouldn't be that big."

"Not stupid," Lance said, getting into a chair. "Fang, I'm hungry."

"You are?" Fang grabbed a cereal box off the fridge. "Want more cereal?"

"No," the boy said, shaking his head. "I want…cookies."

"Yes," Chris agreed, getting into a chair.

Sighing, Fang got them each three Oreos. "That's all, boys."

Lance frowned before thinking of something. "Fang?"

"Hmmm?"

"You work?"

"Later," he said. "You guys wanna come?"

"Y-"

"No," Lance cut off his younger friend. "Stay with Max."

Fang shook his head before going out into the garage, going to put the broom away.

"Why stay with Mommy?"

"She gives us more cookies when Fang leaves," Lance said, jumping down. "Come on. Let's go wake up Max."

"Okay."

* * *

><p>Damien was busy tattooing when Cameron walked in. He heard her voice before he saw her, but didn't look up.<p>

"Hey," he said, still working on some girl's arm. "What's up?"

"Your daughter."

"…What about her?"

"Come over to Anime Any Day when you're done here. I'll be there, waiting for you."

It took him another hour to finish up and then he rushed over. Luther was there, staring with a bored expression at Cameron as she lectured him on his behavior.

"And call me a bitch again, and I'll tear your ass up so bad, you'll wish you were my bitch, because then I'd go easier on you."

"What's wrong?" Damien asked.

"Your chick flipped on me."

"He called me a-"

"I meant with Samantha."

She sighed, leaning against the counter. "She's with your mom right now."

"But why, Cameron?"

"She got suspended."

"For what?" Damien asked, frowning. He had never been suspended in his life. Not even a detention for talking back. Nothing. The worse he did in school was get beat up.

"There was some boy in second grade that she liked. He has a little girlfriend or something, also in second grade. Sam got into a fight with her."

"Is she okay?"

"Not a fist fight, Damien," she said, rolling her eyes. "But then James and Cody, who were in the boy's class, heard the boy saying something bad about Sam. They got into a fist fight with him."

"Really?"

"Well, Cody did. James tried but got too upset and started crying."

"Seriously?"

Luther nodded. "Fang was here earlier but took off to pick them up."

"James is your son, you know," Damien said.

"I know."

"So, anyways, Cody and James got suspended and so did Samantha for fighting with this girl."

"What did she say to the girl?"

"She called her stupid, that no one loved her, and that her mom was fat." Cameron stood up. "Anyways, Luther, you call me a bitch again and-"

"Damien, would you tell your girl to chill?"

"Damien, would you make him respect me?"

But it was too late for either of them to get him to do anything. Damien was already gone, off to check on his baby. Kids could be so cruel. He didn't want her to be emotionally scarred or something.

* * *

><p>Tyler and Alex were waiting outside for their buses after school. Tabitha told him that she was going home with Adeem, to bathe Shark Bait, and Lucas had detention for starting a food fight.<p>

"So…you wanna come over tomorrow?" Alex asked him.

Tyler shrugged. Today, neither had talked that much, not even at lunch. He was too nervous to talk too much.

"Oh, well…hey, we could go see a movie on-"

"Alex, do you like me?"

She just smiled. "I love you, Tyler."

Well that took the pressure off. "Oh. Well, I wanted to ask you to be my girlfriend. I mean, I am asking you. Like right now. So yeah?"

Staring at him for a moment, she slowly tried to process what he was saying. "Tyler-"

"I know, I know, that probably means that we can't spend the night with each other anymore, but I think that it'll all be worth it, just trust me."

"Tyler, I don't love you like that."

His breath caught. "What?"

"I don't…I like Jorge, Tyler. I'm sorry." Her stomach hurt, having to explain this to him.

Jorge…Jorge? "What?"

"I mean…you're my friend, Tyler. I love you, but-"

"I don't wanna talk to you anymore," he said, suddenly feeling very small.

"Tyler-"

"I hate you!" He ran off, even though his bus wasn't there. He ran all the way home, crying the whole way. Even Alex didn't like he… Jenna and Tabitha and Lucas and all those boys at school and everyone else that had said it before was right. No one loved him except for Max. His real mom didn't love him, his dad didn't love him, his sister didn't love him, and now Alex didn't love him.

* * *

><p>"Hi, Daddy," Samantha greeted when he came home. "Guess what I did today?"<p>

He ran to her, pulling her into his arms. "Are you okay? Are you forever scarred?"

"Damien, what are you talking about?" His mother came in from the kitchen. "Sam, your sandwich is ready."

"Okay," she said, walking off to go eat it. "Come on, Daddy, you can have half."

"But, Sam-"

"Why are you here?" Dan asked. "If you're off, take your daughter home. Better yet, go get my belt and I'll whoop her one for getting suspended."

"I do not hit her, Dad. For any reason," Damien said.

"Spare the rod, spoil the child."

"Dan, stop it," Trinity said, watching her son. "Are you okay, Damien?"

"Did that girl hurt Sam's feelings?" He went into the kitchen. "Huh, Sam? Did she? She's so much older than you and-"

"No, but Cody and James got into a fight with my boyfriend," she said, now visibly upset. "They should be hung!"

"Sam!"

She went back to eating. "Or at least sprayed with water guns."

Trinity frowned, studying her adopted granddaughter with interest. "Damien, are you hungry?"

"No, Mom."

"You sure?" She went over to the fridge. "You want something to drink? I made Sam Kool Aid and Lemonade."

"Why did she need both?"

"You know, incase that she got tired of Kool Aid or something. Oh, and I made tea. You want some tea?"

"Mom, are you okay?"

"Fine," she said, getting the Kool Aid out. Even though Sam had asked for blue, she made red, because that was Damien's favorite. He loved anything red. He didn't eat popsicles either unless they were red. "You want me to make you hotdogs?"

"Mom, I'm really not hungry."

"Of course you are," she said, pouring him a glass before putting the Kool Aid back in the fridge. "What about pizza? There's some left over pizza from yesterday."

"I'm not hungry."

"But-"

"Trinity, if the boy says that he's not hungry, he's not hungry."

"Dan, be quiet," she said, going the kitchen doorway to yell at him. "You're the reason that he never comes by anymore."

"Me? I'm not the one shoving food in his face."

"I'm just trying to feed him. Lord knows that his wife never does."

Dan grunted. "Beck is starting. Be quiet."

"I know that you're not telling me to be quiet."

"Are you raising your voice at me?" Dan was getting irritated. "You're the reason that he doesn't come around anymore, Trinity. Just realize it. You've finally drove him away. Tell her, Damien. Go on, tell her."

Damien felt his stomach drop. "Neither of you forced me away. Why do you think that-"

"She's been crying about you not coming to Thanksgiving with us and about just not being around that much," Dan said, not caring at all about his wife's feelings at the moment. "Tell her that you got tired of her, not me."

"What?" Trinity looked at Damien. "Why would you ever get tired of me, Damien?"

"I didn't," he said, frowning. "Mom, I've just been…busy. You know, with life and stuff."

"Still, Damien. You never even send Samantha over here. Did I do something?"

"No."

"You fed him too much," Dan grumbled. "Babied him. Something."

He just glared in the general direction of his father. "Mom, I love you. I've just been busy. Ignore Dad. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

She went over to the fridge. "Then can I make you something? Hotdogs? Eggs?"

"You can make me an omelet, please. I would really, really like it."

"Don't just play with me, Damien."

"I'm not," he said. "I'm super hungry. Please, Mom?"

She nodded, starting to make him his food. After she finished, she made him sit at the table as she went to go start on laundry, making him promise not to leave before telling her goodbye.

"You're lucky," Sam said. "Really lucky."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Your mommy loves you," she said, getting up to go get her homework.

"So does yours, Sam."

"No," she said, grabbing her backpack before running into the living room. "Grandpa, I wanna watch Disney Channel."

"No."

"Yes, or else I'll tell Granny that you're mean to me."

Damien listened as he dad got up and left, grumbling about how unfair it was that he had to watch Beck in his bedroom. Damien smiled a little, eating his food. If Sam could stand up to Dan, no way would a little second grader give her trouble.

* * *

><p>"Max-"<p>

"Not now, Tyler," Max said, still glaring at Cody and James. They were seated at the kitchen table, her in front of them. "Your brothers got in trouble today. Go do something else."

"But-"

"Now."

He sniffled, going off to find his father. Fang was in the attic.

"Dad-"

"I'm on the phone," Fang said, not looking at him.

"But-"

"I'm on the phone," he repeated. And he was. Luther had screwed up some orders and he was having to deal with it. "Go away. Go bother Max."

"But she's talking to-"

"Go, Tyler."

He ran from the attic and into his room. He hated it here! They all acted like their problems were bigger than his own. Which wasn't true at all! It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair.


	18. Chapter 18

Broken

Chapter 18

When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I went to do was wake up the kids. This was different for each room. Tabitha didn't need me to wake her up, she had an alarm clock. Neo and Jason, I have to go in there and tell them. Lance and Chris were usually already up and Cody and James just needed a knock at the door. Tyler and Lucas though, I had to yell at. That's why when Tyler just rolled over, I didn't think anything of it. I went off to start breakfast, or make Fang start it, planning on coming to yell again in ten minutes.

"Mom!" Lucas came running into the kitchen, where I was sitting at the table, watching my husband make eggs.

"What?" I asked as Fang sat a coffee cup down in front of me.

"Tyler won't get out of bed."

"Tell him that if he doesn't, I'll come up there again."

"No, I mean he said that he's never getting out of bed again."

I frowned. "Is he sick?"

Fang turned off the burner before running up the stairs. "Tyler! Is it your stomach?"

I followed him. "Ty, are you okay, baby?"

When we got to his room, he had his covers pulled up over his head.

"Tyler, what's wrong?" Fang went over to him. "Tell me what hurts."

He said nothing. I pushed Fang away, standing next to the bed. I leaned over Tyler. "What's wrong, Tyler? You have to tell me."

Suddenly, Tyler was alive, throwing the covers away from him, getting right up into my face. "You lied to me, Max!"

I was taken aback, having expected him to be sick. "About what, Tyler?"

"You said that nothing bad would happen."

"When?" I asked, frowning.

Now the others were in the doorway, just watching. Lance and Chris were crying, because they thought that Tyler was hurt. Cody and James were hanging back, knowing that they were still in trouble for getting into a fight yesterday. Jason and Neo were just standing there staring, Tabitha in front of all them, looking unfazed. She seemed to know what was wrong before any of us, as always.

"You said that what's the worst that can happen!"

"What are you-"

"No is what can happen! I hate you, Max. You lied to me. Now I don't have a girlfriend, I don't even have a friend. I wish I was sick so that I could die and get away from you."

Lance sniffled, now done crying. "Eggs now?"

* * *

><p>"How did you know about it?"<p>

Tabitha didn't look up. We had been late that morning, after the whole Tyler thing, so I was taking her to school. Tyler was staying home today, or just not going to school really, seeing as Fang was taking him somewhere. Neo cried out against this, as did Lucas, so they were getting the day off from school too. Tabitha just wanted to go because she's Tabitha. What more could a girl want than going to school, being that she was one of the…popular kids, I guess. I don't know what they call them now. Tyler calls them jerks, Tabitha calls them friends.

"I was with Adeem when one of his friends sent him a video of Alex telling him no."

"How did he get a video?" I asked.

"He heard what Tyler was doing and figured what the answer was, so he took out his phone and videoed it.

I took a deep breath. "Tabitha, that's wrong. Tyler has enough issues."

"What do you want me to do about it, Max?" She seemed to find nothing wrong with what had happened. "Tyler was asking for it. He acts like such a freak, no wonder Alex said no and people make fun of him. Not everyone can be as lucky as me."

"What do you mean?"

She just looked straight ahead, not even seeming to care what she was saying. "You know, me. Like…in one of Tyler's comics, my friends and I would be the ones that make fun of the mutant and he eventually gets revenge. Only, this isn't a comic or a book. It's real life. He never gets revenge."

I didn't like hearing this, especially out of my daughter. "Then how does it all end, if he never gets revenge?"

"You know, hangs himself, shoots up the school, drops out. Or, maybe, he goes on to college, where he becomes a heavy drinker and gets into a car wreck," she said with a shrug. "Probably, though, he just lives life alone. Except for his mom…or you, in this sense."

"Or me…"

"Yep," she said as I pulled up the school. "Bye, Max."

"Yeah, bye."

I pulled up the curb and she got out, walking up the place that Tyler dreads. And I hear it only gets worse in high school. For Tyler, at least. Apparently, for Tabitha, it would be smooth sailing from here. I only hope that at some point, she throws her brother a lifejacket or he learns to swim, because the current's starting to get too strong for me to keep dragging him to shore.

* * *

><p>Tyler didn't want to go with Fang. He didn't want to go anywhere, with anyone, but especially not Fang. Sure, he hated Max, but he'd take her over Fang.<p>

Fang was exactly thrilled about taking Tyler out either. He was actually kind of peeved at his son. It's not hard to count the reasons. For one, he had made Fang's heart race, which no one, but his family was able to do. He thought that Tyler was showing signs of being sick, sick. Then, of course, Tyler had yelled at Max, which was unacceptable. Also, when Fang was in there, he saw one of his 'untouchables', namely one of his comics that Tyler was not supposed to touch. Limitless reasons, right?

Alas, Fang knew that he had to take Tyler out. It was clear that Tyler had gone to Max for something and she had disappointed horribly, so it was now his time to make things right. That's how he spent most of his day anyways. Fixing the faucet Max broke, refilling orders Max only half wrote, going over the bathroom that she only half cleaned. Tyler was just another thing to add to a list.

"Tyler, I know that you like Alex, but come on. You're my son. You don't sit there crying over something like that."

"I love her, not like her," Tyler said.

"Still."

"You cried over Max when she left you."

Fang frowned. "That's different. That's real love-"

"I am really in love with her."

Right now, they were in the car, parked at the park. Fang had originally planned to just drive around, but then he wanted to park to do this and this was the closest place.

"No, Tyler, you're really not," he said.

"How would you know? Just because I'm not a freaking old person like you doesn't mean that I don't love her."

"That's not the reason. You just don't have enough experience-"

"Sorry, let me go out and get some other girl pregnant. Then can I love her?"

Fang took a deep breath. "I don't like your tone."

"And I don't like having you as a father, so I guess we're both screwed."

Having not expected this, Fang looked at Tyler. "What do you mean you don't like having me as a father?"

"I mean what I say," he said. "You act like all the other boys are better than me because they have friends, because they don't just spend all their time with a girl, reading comic books. Newsflash, that's all you do."

"I do not, and I don't act like the other boys are better than you."

"Yes, you do! Whenever the games on, you always want Lance to watch it with you or Jason."

"I would ask you, but I know that you'd say no."

"You ask Lucas and he always says no because he's busy with his dead bugs."

Fang shook his head. "What do you want me to do, Tyler? You know what, let's go to a game. Baseball, basketball, football you pick. Anything you want, swear it."

"I don't want to be your friend," Tyler told him. "I don't even like you. Neither does Tabitha. We wish that you would just go away, that Max was our mom and you were just our step dad. That's what you wish too, right? That Max was my real mom? Then would I be okay, huh? Then would you want to do stuff with me?"

"It's not even like that, Tyler. You know that."

"That's why Tabitha and I hate you. All you ever do is lie to us. Ever since Lucas has been born, he's been more important than us."

"Tyler, you don't even remember things before Lucas was born."

"So? I know that it's true."

Fang started the car again. Tyler wanted to be a little brat, fine. Fang wasn't going to sit there and play into him. No way, no how. At some point in a relationship, you have to just abandon ship, knowing that sometimes, broken just stays that way.

* * *

><p>"Um…a cat?"<p>

Lance shook his head.

"Uh…a dog?"

Again, he just shook his head.

I sighed, having known the answer all along, but wanting to let the boys have a chance to guess. "Are you being a rat, Lance?"

"Yes!" He jumped up.

The boys were playing charades, but it was turning into not so great a game…for me anyways. They were just being their favorite things, but none of the other boys had caught onto that.

"Mommy's turn," Chris said.

"Yeah," Jason agreed.

I sighed, staying where I was. "Well?"

"You're being Max," Neo guessed.

"Good, now it's Neo's turn."

They all went back to playing, leaving me alone.

"Max?" A voice came from upstairs.

"What, James?"

"Can me and Cody come down now?"

"No."

"But we have to pee!"

"The bathroom is upstairs, James."

"…Oh yeah."

Fang, who was in the chair, started grumbling, unhappy with our loudness. Whatever. He's just mad because Tyler told him off.

"Fang, my stomach hurts," I told him. "Wanna rub it for me?"

"No."

"Fang, mellow out, alright?"

"Mellow out? Thank you, 70's girl, I'll think about it."

I frowned. Lance, seeing my distress, jumped up onto the couch with me.

"I'll rub your tummy, Max," Lance said, doing so. "You got a small tummy. Not like Fang."

"Are you calling Fang fat?"

He just giggled. "I got a small tummy too, Max. We're twins."

"You wanna be my twin, do you?" I gave him a kiss. "Thank you. I've never had a twin. Though I have had a clone…"

"Really?"

"Yep."

"That's cool. I wish I had a clone," he said, stopping rubbing my stomach. "Max, can you have another baby?"

I frowned. "No, I don't really want one."

"I wish you did," he said, staring at my stomach. "Then I can have a clone, huh? It'd be funny, huh? If it was like me?"

"Lance, I don't think there could ever be another you."

He smiled brightly. "Me neither."

"Are you playing or not?" Neo asked. "Come on."

"I don't wanna play anymore," he said, laying against me. "I wanna cuddle with Max."

"You're such a baby," Neo taunted. Chris got up and went over to us, crawling into my lap.

"Me too," he said, closing his eyes. "Nap, Mommy?"

I picked him up and took Lance's hand, leading them to my bedroom. Now they were speaking my language. Today had not been a good sleeping day, which made all days bad days, crazy Tyler moments or not.

"Wat," Lance said suddenly, running from the room. He returned with Mr. Tiger and his stuffed rat. "Got Mr. Tiger, Chris."

"Say thank you," I told Chris as he hugged his tiger.

"Thank you," Chris said. He got on my right side and Lance on my left, each cuddling against me.

"Go to sleep, boys," I said, closing my eyes.

"Night-night," Chris said, kissing my cheek.

"Love you," Lance whispered, smiling against my side.

"Ditto."

"Like the Pokemon!"

"…Yeah, whatever."

* * *

><p>Being suspended wasn't so bad. Samantha lucked out and her mother had to work, leaving her with her dad, which was always good. It's like ice cream. It's great rain or shine.<p>

"Dad?"

"What?" He was busy reading a manga. "I'm busy."

"I want you to play with me though."

He sighed, looking at her. "Play what, Sam?"

"I want to play…princess."

He groaned. "I don't like playing-"

"I want to play it, Dad!"

"Okay, okay," he said, setting his book down. "Alright, um…what am I, again?"

"You have to be everyone except for the princess." Duh.

Standing up, Damien said, "Which princess? Cinderella? Snow White?"

"I want to play…Princess Samantha."

Great… "Who's the prince?"

"My prince charming is…do I have to have just one?"

"Yes, Samantha," he said, frowning down at her.

"Are you sure? I mean, I love Tyler and Lucas, but Brandon is so much better. And then there's Brian. Ooh and Kyle. Heath. Mark. Derek. Kris. Laurice-"

"Prince Neo," Damien decided.

"What? No."

"Yes. Prince Neo and Princess Samantha."

"Fine," she said, crossing her arms. "Let me go get my tutu and your crown from my toy box."

"Alright," he said, sighing. He hated playing princess with Sam, but, she always reminded him that part of being a good dad was making sacrifice. He had yet to find out if daughters had to make any sacrifice because, so far, she had made none.

* * *

><p>"So, anyways, she thinks that she's all of a sudden better than me because-"<p>

"Tabitha?"

She stopped talking Adeem, but kept opening her locker. "Yeah, Alex?"

She sighed, looking at the ground. "Where's Tyler today?"

"At home," she said, pulling her history book from her locker. "Here, Adeem, carry this."

"Fine," he said, taking it before giving her his binder. "Carry that."

"You're so stupid."

"Not as stupid as you."

"Tabitha?"

She held in a groan. Why wouldn't Alex just go away? "Yeah, Alex?"

"Could you tell Tyler to call me?"

"Sure, whatever," she said, frowning when Adeem tried to balance her history book on his head. "Adeem, cut it out."

"You cut it out."

"No, you-"

"Thanks, Tabitha," Alex said before walking off.

Adeem frowned, letting the book fall, but catching it with his hands. "For someone that said no, she sure still is worried about Tyler."

"Well, losers have to stick together, right?"

"You know, if I had said that, you would have gotten mad at me."

"Yeah," she said, walking with him to her next class. "I know."

* * *

><p>Around four, Fang got into bed. The boys had already ditched me, so he just pulled my body closer to his.<p>

"Hey," he whispered in my ear. "You up?"

"I wasn't."

"All that matters is that you are now," he said. His face was still so close to my ear that for a second, I though that maybe he would kiss it. He didn't though, probably because of his issue with Tyler.

I yawned. "Where are Chris and Lance?"

"With Lucas."

"Doing what?"

"Something with bugs."

"Fang, they cannot be outside by themselves."

"They're not."

I shivered. "I hate bugs in the house."

"You wanted boys. Boys like bugs."

"Still. Lucas isn't normal."

"Which of our kids is?"

"I think Chris," I told him truthfully.

"For now. And what about Tabitha?"

That was laughable. "Sure, Fang, Tabitha."

He looked confused. "What?"

"Fang, besides Adeem, Tabitha couldn't keep a friend to save her life."

"Yes. All those girls that she-"

"Those girls aren't really her friend. She's knows that. I could spend ever day with the chick that you cheated with. We wouldn't be friends."

"I did not cheat, Max."

And we're back to this. I rolled so that my back was to him. "Just let me go back to sleep."

"Fine, whatever. You know, I try to come in here, have a nice conversation with you, and you just act like a-"

"Just because Tyler hates you does not mean that you can yell at me. Fuck off, Fang."

He pushed out of the bed, slamming the bathroom door behind him when he went in there. I heard the shower turn on. Sighing, I got up out of bed and went out of the room, in search of the boys, looking out for bugs on the way. There had better not be any spiders, or else Lucas is as good as dead.

* * *

><p>As if Fang's problems weren't enough, when he got to work, Luther was there, going through pack, after pack of cigarettes.<p>

"What's up with you?" Fang asked. "Tabby still not talking to you?"

He frowned. "How do you know that something's wrong with me?"

"It smells like a freaking bar in here, all the smoke."

Luther snorted. "Clearly, you haven't been in any good bars."

"Only one," Fang admitted. "Anyways, trust me, I'm having a way worse day than you."

"What? Max not horny for you again?"

He frowned. "Tyler said that he didn't want me as a father."

"He's been saying the since he could talk."

"Not like this," Fang said, going to sit down.

"What did you do to him?"

"Nothing, that's just it," Fang said. "I've never done anything to him. He's just so ungrateful."

"Teenagers tend to be ungrateful, Fang."

"No, Luther, only you."

He frowned. "You know how your daughter won't talk to me? Well, I was thinking."

"That's never good."

"I think that I need someone to love me, to care for me. You know, like Tabitha should be doing, but isn't."

"Are you going to have another kid?"

"Ew, no. That would be disgusting, having a kid just to use it for love," Luther said, frowning. "No, I was thinking about looking into a mail order bride."

Because that was so much better.

"What? Why don't you just get a dog?"

"What?"

Fang sighed. "Are you seriously thinking about this?"

"Yeah, I was thinking Asian, but I don't know. Russians are hot too. Just not a German woman."

"Why not?" Fang asked, going to go ahead and playing into his delusion.

"I hate their accents. Not sexy at all."

"Luther, that's offensive."

"So is your face!"

"…"

"Sorry, I just miss Tabby."

"Clearly."

* * *

><p>"Alex was looking for you today."<p>

Tyler looked up. "You should knock, you know."

"Oh, trust me, if I thought that you were mature enough to require knocking, I would. But you're not. Everyone knows babies have nothing to hide, not even under the covers."

He frowned. "Kicking me while I'm down. Wow, you're grown up."

"Thank you," she said, looking around his room. "Where's Lucas?"

"Like I give a fuck."

"Ooh, I just might have to tell Dan."

"Tell him! See if I care, because I don't," Tyler said with certainty. "God doesn't give a shit about me, fine, I don't him."

"Who said that God didn't care about you, Tyler?" Tabitha asked with fake sincerity. "Sure you're not confusing him with someone else? Like me?"

"More like Dad."

Rolling her eyes, she said, "As much fun as your pity party is, I think that it works better when you're alone. I just wanted to tell you that Alex wanted you to call her."

"Why should I?"

"Geez, because she's your only friend."

"So? I like being alone."

"Oh, really?" She turned for the door. "Good. Now you won't be shocked when that's how the rest of your life pans out."

He just let her go, not saying anything. It's hard practicing being alone when your sister is making fun of you.

* * *

><p>The week passed and Tyler kind of got over Alex. He was eating lunch alone though, or so Tabitha told me. I asked that, if they had gotten the same lunch together, why she didn't just ask him to sit with them. She just laughed, telling me that she had worked to get where she was. Why would she let Tyler bring her down?<p>

Right now, it was a few days before Samantha's birthday and I was taking the younger boys to get her a gift. Stupid idea, I know, bring four little boys to Toys R Us, but I figure that they can whine about what they want so that I can buy it later, for Christmas. And I need to pick Lucas up a gift. Three birds, one pebble…or something like that.

"Okay," I said, picking Chris up and putting him into the front of the cart. I let Lance ride in the basket. "Sam needs a gift from each pair. Neo and Jason can pick one and you and Chris, Lance."

"Lucas needs a gift too, huh?" Neo asked, following along behind me. Jason was stomping along next to me, mad about something from earlier.

"Yes."

"I wan' this," Chris said as I went down a toy aisle. He grabbed the box, but began to cry when I took it and put it back.

"I told you all in the car that you couldn't get anything."

"No," Lance said.

"Yes, I did."

Neo yawned. "I wanna go home, Max, I'm sleepy."

I groaned, listening to the complain and whine for the next two hours before I got out of there. And on the ninth, too. The day that Kevin was taken from me, they couldn't just cut me a little slack?

* * *

><p>"Are you going to leave me this Christmas too?"<p>

Adeem shook his head. "No. My brother didn't invite me down, seeing as we just saw each other at Thanksgiving."

"Good," she said, leaning against him.

"What did you just say?"

"Good," she repeated slowly, unsure of his motives. "So what?"

"You want me here, huh?"

"…What's your point, Adeem?"

"Just that you love me."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do. That's why you want me here over break."

She removed her head from his shoulder. "Just shut up."

They were on his front porch, waiting for Dr. Martinez to come pick her up. Tabitha had spent the day with Adeem, but Dr. Martinez had begged her to spend the night with her.

"I would be sad."

"What?"

"If you went away. I would be sad."

She frowned, staring at the ground. "When we get older, I want to move somewhere cold."

"Cold?"

"Yeah, cold. Cold enough to snow all winter long. Cold enough for a fireplace. Cold enough to make a snowman."

He just stared at her. "I want to live in Japan."

"Have fun. I'll be in Maine."

He nodded. "I'll see you on holidays, I guess."

"Muslims don't have the same holidays as Christians."

"Guess it's a good thing we're both. I'll see you on Muslim holidays and Christian holidays."

"When you come visit me, you can bring me gifts."

"Of course," he said, still staring into the dark. "And you can make me dinner, at least on the first night I'm there."

"Yeah, that's a given."

It was quiet again. And that was fine. Maine and Japan…so far apart, yet so inviting and comforting.

* * *

><p>Fang was up at three in the morning, raiding the fridge, when a noise startled him. He frowned, looking at the kitchen table.<p>

"Tyler?"

"I'm not talking to you."

He sighed. "Were you down here before I came in here?"

"…If I was talking to you, I would say yes, but since I'm not…"

Fang went back to going through the fridge. "When I was your age and I was up at three in the morning, I wouldn't be doing that at the table. That's nasty."

"…If I was talking to you, which I'm not, I would tell you that I'm not doing that, but I'm not talking to you, so…"

"Fine, don't talk to me," Fang said, finally pulling out the stuff to make sandwiches. "If I were Max, though, and I asked what you were doing, what would you say?"

"If you were Max, I would tell you that I'm writing."

"If I were Max, I would asked, what are you writing."

"If you were Max, I would tell you nothing and you would get tired and go to bed or you would realize that one of the other kids is more important."

"…If you were talking to me, and I asked, what would you say?"

"I would tell you nothing and you would get mad, walk off, and then go yell at Max."

Fang took a bite of his sandwich, staring at the darkness. "One day, Tyler, you're going to get tired of hiding what you're doing and I'm going to get tired of yelling and we're going to talk for real."

"…If I was talking to you, I'd tell you that I want you to leave now."

Fang shook his head, walking out of the room with his sandwich and his coke. Maybe nothing had been accomplished with Tyler today, maybe something had, but either way Fang had realized one thing. Sometimes, when you're floating out there in the water, you realize that you've abandoned ship too early and you contemplate getting back on to save it. At the moment, he wasn't sure if he should get back on or just let it sink, but he was thinking about it, and that's all that anyone could ask for at the moment.


	19. Chapter 19

Broken

Chapter 19

Damien was trying, really trying hard to understand, but he wasn't getting it.

"Did he make you do it, Samantha?"

"No," she said, sniffling. "Why am I in trouble?"

"You're not," Cameron said, flipping through channels on the TV. "Just don't do it again."

"This is not just a 'don't do it again' moment, Cameron," Damien said, staring at his daughter.

"Damien, all little kids wonder about things like that."

"No."

"Is Neo gonna get in trouble?" Sam asked.

Cameron shrugged. "Now go away. My shows on."

* * *

><p>Today was Sam's birthday. Her party was quickly broken up, however, when we noticed that she and Neo were nowhere to be found. After a little searching, we found them. Both naked.<p>

"I think it's funny."

"Fang, it is far from funny."

"Max, they're kids. They just wanted to look at each other. Remember when we were at the school? Remember?"

"That's different, Fang."

"They were just looking at each other. Like…seeing what makes boys and girls different. No big deal."

"Fang, I don't want them to think that they can do that again."

"Do what?" Fang shook his head. "Nothing was going on. They were both just…looking."

"Tyler, Tabitha, and Lucas never did this."

He shrugged. "Tyler looks at magazines though."

I groaned. "Just go talk to him."

"Fine."

* * *

><p>Neo lifted his head up when Fang came into his room. "Am I grounded?"<p>

"No," Fang said. "Jason, go play with Mommy. She's trying to take a nap. Don't let her."

Giggling, he ran off. Fang sat down on Jason's bed, which was across from Neo's.

"You know, you and Sam shouldn't have done that."

"I know…"

"Who wanted to do it?" Fang asked. "You?"

"No! Sam said that she wanted to know what guys look like. I asked why. She said that she just wanted to and that I could see her too."

Fang just looked at him. "You don't have to do what girls want all the time, Neo."

"I know," he said. "And I really didn't even see her that well, because you guys found us first."

Rolling his eyes, Fang said, "No more looking at each other, okay? If Sam asks again, you just come tell me and I'll tell Damien or Cameron to make her stop. Not even just Sam, okay? Any girl, I swear."

"Okay."

Fang got up and pushed Neo's head a little. "You didn't do anything wrong, Neo. Just don't do it again, alright?"

"Okay."

"Good," Fang said before walking out of the room.

* * *

><p>Adeem laid down on his bed. "So they just both got naked and looked at each other?"<p>

"Yeah, pretty much."

He thought for a second. "I did that with this one girl when I was four. I got in big trouble though."

"I never have."

"Yeah, but you've had brothers your whole life."

"So?"

"You already knew what a guy looked like."

"I guess."

He moved over some on the bed so that she could get in it with him. "Poor me, though, I've don't even remember what that girl looked like…wanna show-'

"Finish that sentence and we won't talk for a month."

He weighed out his options in his head before laying on his side. "Anyways, what do you want to do for New Years?"

"New Years isn't a holiday you can participate in, right?"

"Well, I don't see it as a holiday. It's more of a celebration."

"Adeem."

"What my dad doesn't know won't hurt him," Adeem said. "Besides, Muslims have their own New Years. We have our own calendar, you know."

"I really don't care."

"…Yeah, I really don't either."

"You're a bad Muslim," she said as he laid his hand on her stomach.

"And you're a bad Christian."

"I've been thinking about being Catholic."

"If you're no good a being Christian, you'd suck at being Catholic."

"Actually, Catholicism is a form of Christianity."

"Okay, but we're talking about being Catholic, not being a part of Catholicism."

"…Never mind, Adeem."

He smiled at her. "It's not like either of us are really religious anyways. You just call yourself Christian because you're supposed to. Right?"

"I don't know. Can we talk about something else?"

"Like what?"

"Like…what are you going to give me this year?"

"Huh?"

"Last year, when you did that project, you called it my winter gift. What are you giving me this year?"

"I don't know. Probably nothing," he said before quickly changing the subject. "How's your brother?"

"Like you care."

"Maybe I do."

"Really?" She looked at him critically. "You really care about Tyler?"

"Well, no," Adeem admitted.

"Didn't think so."

* * *

><p>Lucas's birthday finally came around, along with school letting out for break, and the stuff with Samantha and Neo had kind of blew over…sort of.<p>

When I answered the door, it was Damien and Samantha. He didn't look at all thrilled about being here.

"Hey, D-"

"Don't talk to me," he said, which, by the way, was the rudest thing he has ever said to me.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't want to talk to someone who is raising a kid like _that_."

"Last time I checked, your daughter was the one who wanted to-"

"As if."

"Hi, Sam," Jason called. Neo was looking down at the toys he was playing with. I think that he was embarrassed by all this. Sam pushed passed me and ran over to them.

I moved back so that Damien could come in. After a moment's hesitation, he did so, going to sit down on the couch.

"Fang's upstairs," I told him, closing the front door.

"Oh no, I'm not leaving them alone."

I frowned. "Last time I checked, you hadn't left them alone last time. Now scram. That's my sleeping couch."

"Is there a couch that isn't your sleeping couch?" Lucas asked as Damien started up the stairs.

"Shush," I told him, laying down. "Go bother Tabitha and her boyfriend."

"Where are they?"

"In her room," I said. "Now go."

* * *

><p>Adeem and Tabitha had the TV on, but they weren't really watching it. Oh, no, that would involve taking attention away from each other.<p>

"Stop," she said, giggling as he leaned way too close. "Seriously, cut it out."

"Why? Scared you might like it too much?"

"No."

He smiled at her before kissing her again. "I think that you know that you love me. You just know that admitting it would ruin everything."

"Everything? What do you mean?"

"It-"

"Hi, Tabitha," Lucas said, walking into the room.

"Get out," she yelled at him. He just stared. She waited a second, expecting a reply, but when she got none, she asked, "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Are you leaving?"

"No."

"Then what do you want, Lucas?"

He just kept staring. In reality, he was just doing it to annoy Tabitha. He could really care less about what they were doing.

"Seriously, screw off," Adeem said. He got up and went to Tabitha's dresser. "Here's a twenty to leave us alone for the rest of Christmas break."

"What? Adeem-"

"Thanks," Lucas said, taking it before running out of the room.

"Adeem, that was my money, you know."

He just smiled, sitting back down on the bed. "I know."

"Why can't you ever use your own money?"

"He is your brother."

"Still."

"At least we're alone now," he said, moving to lay on his side next to her. He gave her another kiss.

"What were you saying before? About ruining this?"

"What?"

"Before Lucas came in?"

"Don't remember," he said truthfully.

"If you do, tell me."

"Sure, whatever," he said, rubbing her stomach. Laughing, she pushed his hand away, also forgetting the topic.

* * *

><p>The day after Lucas's birthday, Cameron had had enough of her husband. Though she had not gone to the party, as she had work, Max had called and said that he was bratty about the whole 'naked' thing. Now, it was her turn to deal with it.<p>

"Alright, Samantha, you know that you are the last person in the world that I want to talk to on my day off, but I cannot stand your father any longer. So sit down, shut up, and listen to me."

Sam sat down on the couch. "Me and Neo don't even care anymore. Why can't you just-"

"Did I not just say shut up?" Cameron stood in front of her daughter. "Now, I get it, you wanted to know something. Whatever. I really don't care. Just don't-"

"Why can't I?"

"Because, Samantha, your body is yours, no one else's. Keep it to yourself. No one wants to see it, trust me. And if anyone does, that means they're nasty and you tell someone that cares about you if they want to see you."

"Like who?"

"Your dad or something, just not me," Cameron said. "Now get off the couch. My shows almost on."

"Can I watch it with you?"

Cameron studied her daughter for a second. "Fine. Just go sit somewhere else."

The little girl got up and sat down in the chair. "Me and Neo didn't want everyone to get mad at us."

"I said that you could watch TV, not talk during it," Cameron said, changing the channel to Judge Mathis. After a second, she added, "And no one's mad at you. For that at least."

Samantha smiled a little, cuddling into the chair. Peter walked into the room and jumped into Cameron's lap, purring a little. It was rare for her mother to be sort of nice to her. This was…cool. She wouldn't trade this moment for a thousand daddy hugs. And all because she saw Neo naked, which wasn't all that great. Kind of boring, really.

* * *

><p>"How do you skinny dip?"<p>

I didn't look up. "You don't eat for a month and fall into the toilet."

Jason laughed. "Really?"

"Yep. Why?"

"Heard it in a song."

"See what you do to them?" I looked at Fang.

"Me?" Fang shook his head. "It was probably your music."

It was both of us at the store today and most of the kids were here. The only ones not were Cody and James, who were with Trinity.

"Whose music was it?" I asked Jason. "Me or Daddy?"

"You," he said.

"Told you," Fang said.

"He's lying," I said. "I only listen to hardcore rap, after all. No way he heard a word like that from my music."

"Max, you don't even listen to popish rap."

"Shut up."

"I listen to more rap than you and I would rather listen to country than rap."

I made a face at him. "Ew. Country?"

"Anyways, the point is, you do not listen to rap."

"How do you know?" I looked back down at the magazine I was reading. "I am a very diverse person, Fang. And, for future reference, I was kidding about the hardcore stuff. I'm more dirty south."

"Shut up," he said, shaking his head. "Who's your favorite rapper, Max?"

"Well, that's a hard one."

"Told you."

"But, if I had to pick one, Z-Ro."

"What? Who is-"

"Name one rapper you know."

"That one…um…wade?"

"Lil' Wayne?"

"…Sure," he said. "Ooh, and that Smith guy."

Tabitha groaned from the back room. She and Adeem were back there, doing something.

"Jason was talking about some Katy Perry song, Max," she said.

"…Well, I only listen to her when I can't find one of my normal CDs."

"Yeah, sure," Fang said, rolling his eyes.

"I do!"

Neo looked up from his action figures when someone walked in. When he saw that it wasn't his dad, he looked back down. Gasman was supposed to arrive today. He and Juliet were driving down.

"I like Taylor Swift," Lucas announced. Late to the conversation much?

"You're a disgrace," Fang said.

"Really," I agreed.

He frowned, going back to playing with this cricket he found outside.

"I like With Broken Wings," Neo said, staring at Lucas. I saw Lucas's wings twitch under his shirt.

"Cut it out," I told him, frowning.

"What? I do," he said.

"That is not a real band."

"Is too," he said. "Daddy listens to them. And Wednesday 13…oh and Silverstein!"

"I thought I said that you can't listen to them anymore?"

"…I don't."

"Anything's better than Taylor Swift," Fang said, still looking at Lucas.

"Just because you don't like her, doesn't mean I can't," Lucas said. "Plus, she's got a better body than-"

"Aren't you five?" I asked, frowning.

"Nine! I just turned nine!"

"Yeah, Fang," I said. "He just turned nine."

"Me? I knew he was nine. You're the one that can't keep dates straight."

That reminded me. "I haven't talked to Carlos in forever."

Fang frowned. "Maybe you should call him."

"No. If he really cared about me, he'd call me."

"Then, if you cared about him, you'd call him."

"…Shut up, Fang. God, why do you always have to open your mouth?"

"Curse," he said as the person brought their stuff up to the counter. "I hear I have to kiss someone with a pure soul to break it."

"…If that was a shot at me, that was stupid."

"Why, Max, whatever do you mean?" He asked, ringing the person up.

"…Just for that horrible shot you made, I'm going to sleep. Have fun dealing with all the kids."

The person in front of us perked up. "Not to intrude on your conversation, I mean, I didn't plan to eavesdrop, but I have been looking for a job everywhere. And, I mean, you have all your kids here and…I could baby sit. No, wait, you don't even know me. What if I work here? I've applied everywhere, really. I dropped out of high school and, well, it's kind of hard finding a job and…never mind. Sorry for-"

"You can have the job," I said quickly. The woman was about twenty, maybe nineteen, but wasn't Fang's type, in the slightest. For one, no red hair, it was dyed white, and she was more of the nerdy hot girl, not the sport hot girl, Fang's M.O. No, no threat to me.

"Really?" She looked at me with shock.

"Really?" Fang asked, clearly also shocked.

"Yes," I said. "You start tomorrow. Say…ten?"

Fang frowned. "That's your shift, Max."

"Shut up, Fang," I said, frowning at him. "A guy named Luther will be here. He'll train you and stuff."

"Thanks so much!" She said, running off.

"Um…hey, you left your stuff and your change," Fang said.

"Oh, duh, right," she said, coming back over to us.

"You want to know the pay?" I asked her, frowning. She seemed kind of forgetful, but hey. Meredith was too…as far as they all know.

"Not really. I mean…uh…It doesn't matter," she said, taking her mangas. "Ten, right? Okay, cool. See you then."

"See Luther then," I corrected, making Fang kick me behind the counter. Ow! God…

"Yeah, right. Okay," she said, walking out of the store.

"I don't like her as much as Squid," Lucas said.

"Chill, Cameron will probably run her off too," I said, laying my head down.

"Max, did you seriously just hire someone?" Fang asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I did," I said, smiling a little.

"You don't even know her name."

"Fang, honestly, if your name didn't make me laugh all the time, I would have forgotten yours too."

He groaned. "Where's Tyler?"

"Why?" I asked.

"He disappeared when we got here, Max. The question should be why we didn't ask before."

"I honestly didn't notice that he was gone."

"That's the problem."

I went ahead and did a head count. Everyone was here except for… "Oh my God, where are James and Cody?"

"With Trinity, Max."

"Oh, right. Everyone's here."

Fang just sighed.

* * *

><p>Damien was in his room, reading a comic. Cameron was sitting next to him, half watching TV, half trying to judge the right moment to tell him something. As always, Damien was blissfully unaware of this and was blindsided by her news.<p>

"Damien?" She asked as the news came back on.

"Hmmm?"

"Can we talk?"

"Aren't we already?"

"Yeah…Remember when we talked about having a baby?"

"Yep," he said, not looking up.

"Well we are."

"That's…what?"

She nodded. "I'm pregnant, Damien."

He smiled a little. "Really? You already know?"

"Y-"

"Daddy!" Samantha yelled from downstairs. "Daddy!"

He jumped up, running out of the room. "What? Sam, where are you?"

Racing down the stairs, he made it to the living room to see his daughter crying. In front of her was Bubba, laying on the ground. He got down next to the dog. It was gone.

"Cameron, come here!"

"What?" She walked down the stairs. "What?"

"Bubba died," he said, his own eyes starting to well with tears.

"Oh, Damien, don't-"

"Daddy, can't you fix him?" Samantha looked at her father for help, because her mother never gave any, ever. "Please?"

"I'm sorry," Damien said, sniffling. "He's dead, Sam. He was old. Everything dies eventually."

"What happened to him?" Cameron asked, watching as the two of the cried over a dog. How pathetic.

"I don't know," Sam said. "I was watching TV in my room and came downstairs and he was just here."

Cameron sighed. "So what do you do with a dead dog?"

"Take him to the pound," Damien said, tears still rolling down his cheeks.

"Kind of heavy to carry out to the car…have fun," she said, walking back up the stairs. "I'm pregnant. Can't help."

Sometimes, he found it very hard not to hate her.

* * *

><p>"Cameron called me," I told Fang later, when we were finally home. "Bubba died."<p>

"Who?"

"The dog, Fang."

"Right," he said. "Reminds me, we need to feed Tank."

"Fang, that's sad. She said that Damien was crying."

Fang shook his head, going into the living room. "Damien cries when he runs over a squirrel."

I shrugged. This was true. "I wish Gasman would hurry up and get here. Neo looks like he's about to pee himself, waiting."

"Better not," Fang said, making Lance get off the couch so that he could sit down. "Hear that Neo? Don't pee yourself."

"I wasn't going to!"

I sat down in the chair, cuddling into it. "Fang, did you ever find where Tyler was hiding?"

We had drove separate cars back to the house. Fang said that he would look for him.

"Yeah," he said. "He was in the storage room."

"Doing what?"

"I don't know and I don't care to know," he said. "He's been a little brat recently."

"You've been a brat always. I still care about you."

"Really? You care about me?"

"Well, not in so many words."

"Care about me is three words, Max. How many words do you want to use?"

"Zero, if possible."

There was a knock at the door and Neo jumped up to answer it. "Dad!"

"Hey, Neo," Gasman said, hugging him. He came into the house. "Glad to see nothing's changed."

I was offended. "Excuse me, yes things have. I freaking moved the couch to the left a little last week on accident when I tripped and fell. God, you guys don't appreciate anything."

Neo let his father go. "Max said that I can't listen to Silverstein."

'Well, maybe you should come live with me and Juliet and listen to whatever you want."

Neo just looked past his father. "Where is it?"

"Juliet? Back at the hotel."

"No. My presents!"

Gasman smiled. "I'm not Santa, Neo."

"Still."

"Let him get into the house, buddy," Fang said, getting up. He and Gasman shook hands, ugh, before Fang went back to sit down. I didn't get up.

"I would give you a hug, but you didn't like my redecorating."

"Max, not moving a couch back to its place because you're lazy is not redecorating."

"Says you," I told him, crossing my arms. "To make it up to me, you can get that blanket off the couch and bring it to me."

"Been here a minute and you already have me back under your control," he mumbled, going to get it. When he gave it to me, I gave him a hug.

"Now go away," I said. "I'm watching TV."

"I can feel the love."

"Not as much as you'll feel my foot in a second if you don't move. I was serious, I'm watching something."

Gazzy just rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p>The next day, Luther was sleeping off a hangover at work, when a woman showed up.<p>

"Um, excuse me?"

Luther lifted up his head. "Order?"

"What? No. I work here."

"Right…so do I."

"I know. The woman that was here yesterday told me that I was supposed to talk to someone named Luther?"

"That's me," he said. "At least I think…"

"She said that you were supposed to train me."

"Train?"

"Like show me the ropes."

"If I had a rope, I'd hang myself," he said, standing. "So, you're the new employee. Just so you know, Fang is not the owner. He's a liar."

"…You look sick," she said, staring at him.

"I always look like this."

"I'll be back," she said, leaving. Luther shrugged. When he woke up again, she was back with chicken soup.

"Here," she said, putting the bowl in front of him. "For you."

"Because I'm sick," he said, staring at it.

"Because you're sick."

* * *

><p>On Christmas Eve, Tabitha wasn't supposed to be able to go over to Adeem's, but she turned the tables on her father, by telling him that he never said Adeem couldn't come over to her house. They argued, then Max said that they were too loud and she was trying to sleep, so Tabitha won.<p>

"Why'd you bring your backpack?" Tabitha asked Adeem as they sat out on the back porch. He was sitting up against the side of the house, her seated in front of him, leaning against the railing.

"Because I brought your present in it."

"Present?"

"Already forgot? Can I go ahead and assume that you didn't get me a winter gift?"

This had caught her off guard, something that she did not like nor appreciate. She took a moment to recover before saying, "Consider that twenty you gave Lucas your gift."

"Hmmm…fine," he said, unzipping his bag. "Here."

She stared at it. "It's a snow globe."

"That it is," he said, smiling brightly.

"But…why?"

His smile deflated slightly. "It's of Bar Harbor. In Maine? A snow globe of Maine?"

"I don't-"

"It's of Maine and it's snow. So when you shake it, it's snowing in Maine."

"…I understand how snow globes work, thank you."

"You said that you wanted to live in Maine, so that it snows!" He was starting to lose his patience. "Now, you can come with me to Japan. See? When we're in Japan, and you're missing Maine, you can just look at it and everything will be fine."

She smiled, now understanding. "Thank you, Adeem."

* * *

><p>"What are you doing?"<p>

Fang jumped in surprise, but didn't turn away from the window over the sink. "I'm making sure that nothing happens."

"Fang, you can't even hear them," I said, wrapping my arms around him. I laid my head on his shoulder, also watching.

"I can, kind of. She just said thank you."

I watched as she moved closer to Adeem. Fang pushed me off as their faces got closer too. I grabbed his hand as he started for the backdoor.

"Leave them alone."

"They're twelve!"

"Almost thirteen…at least she is."

"Exactly."

"Exactly what?"

"I didn't have a serious girlfriend until-"

"Fang, chill, alright?" I pulled him back to me. "So she's a year ahead of you. Big deal."

"A year? I was talking about you and me, not me and that girl in Virginia."

"Oh, whatever. Like you don't remember her name. Please."

"The point is-"

"Fang, it's not like they're going to screw each other on the porch."

"Why do you have to be so vulgar?"

"Maybe I'm just wired wrong."

"That's a pedophile excuse, you know."

I frowned. "Anyways, leave Tabitha alone. At least she's not hiding out inside her room."

Fang sighed. "He's still in his room?"

I nodded. "It's your fault, Fang."

"My fault? You're the one who told him-"

"You should have never let him come ask me a question. You know that I don't give good advice. I mean, I did end up with _you_, after all."

"After all," he repeated, watching me now. "You know, Max, I've been thinking."

"About what?"

"You and sleeping."

I smiled a little. "You think I don't enough? You want to buy me sleeping pills?"

"…I am under the impression that those would kill you."

"What? That doesn't even make any-"

"What do you dream about?"

"Huh?"

"What do you dream about?" He repeated.

"You know dreams. You don't always remember them."

"No," Fang agreed. "But you remember some of them."

"Maybe you do, but I don't," I said, walking out of the room, Fang's secret motive all along. Now he got to go back to watching Tabitha and Adeem. Whatever.

* * *

><p>"You know, if it wasn't for you, I would have to see my sister," Gasman told Fang. It was around five in the morning on Christmas and they were putting the presents under the tree. Max, who had come with them, was now passed out on the couch, snoring softly.<p>

"Well, what did you want me to do?"

"No, no," Gasman said. "I'm glad that you punched that guy. For one, ew. For two, now that she refuses to come, I don't have to see her."

"You don't like your sister," Fang said, setting a basketball down. Tank had ripped up the old one.

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Just…she's such a bitch sometimes."

"So is Max," Fang said, glancing at his wife. "When she's not sleeping, at least."

"Still."

"So…you and that girl are still good?"

Gasman smiled a little. "Yeah. I love her."

"Neo doesn't."

He shrugged. "He doesn't know her that well. He's never really been alone with her."

Neither had Fang, but he knew that he didn't like her. "Still. If your kid doesn't like someone-"

"Why does it matter if he does or doesn't? You guys are never giving him back anyways."

"That's not…okay, so what if it is true? You don't deserve him."

"He's my son, Fang."

"Is he? Does he cry to you when he's scared? Did you potty train him? Does he follow your example? No. He does mine."

"So what, Fang? He's still my son."

He shook his head. "Whatever."

"Is that all you and Max say when you have nothing to say? Whatever? Really?"

Fang put down the last present. "If you have a problem with the way I'm raising your kid, then maybe you should go ahead and take him. Better yet, how much money do you send us to take care of him?"

Gasman rolled his eyes. "Oh, so he has a price tag, now? Really?"

"No, but the food, the clothes, the toys, those all do."

"I-"

"You know, some people are trying to sleep!" Tabitha yelled from upstairs.

"Really," Max mumbled, rolling over face the back of the couch. "Geez, Santas, you guys need to be quieter. Go break into another house. I'm tired."

"Shut up, Max," Fang said, walking off to his bedroom. Neo was his son. Gasman was just a sperm donor.


	20. Chapter 20

Broken

Chapter 20

**January**

"What are you still doing up?"

Tyler frowned, but said nothing.

"Fine, ignore me," Tabitha said, walking through the dark kitchen. She stepped on Snickers' tail, making the cat screech. "Fuck."

Tyler scowled at his other half in the dark, still silent.

"If you're going to stare at me, at least speak. I am so over your dark and brooding state."

"If I say anything to you, I'll only be mean."

"Good," she said, opening the fridge. The light hurt both their eyes and she quickly grabbed a coke before closing it. Then she went to the pantry, fiddling in the dark as she searched for the box of crackers. "Nice going, telling dad that I hate him. Now, every time we're alone, he wants to have a heart to heart with me."

He could only get so lucky. "You do hate him."

"I hate you all. That doesn't meant that I go around telling everyone."

"You hate us all? Even Max?"

"Especially Max," Tabitha said, still looking. "Not as much as you, though. You act like you have it so hard-"

"I do! I have it so much harder than you."

"What?" She turned to look at him. Tyler could see her perfectly, with his night vision he inherited from his father. She did not have the same trait, however. "You have it easier than anyone in the house."

"How? I have no friends, no life-"

"By choice, Tyler!"

"Choice my ass," he said. "I just act like myself and-"

"If you want friends, you never be yourself," she said, glancing at the clock. 4:07. They had to be quieter. "I'm not myself."

"You sure are when you're sucking face with Adeem."

"At least I have someone to do that with," she said, turning back to the pantry. "You, however, are alone, like always. God, if I were you, I'd just end it now. Wanna rope? I'll gladly bring it to you."

As if he hadn't thought about it. "You know that you would be sad if I died."

"Yeah right," she said, finally finding the crackers. "I'm leaving soon anyways."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"To where?"

"Anywhere but here," she said. "Fifteen, I'm gone. Take a good look, Ty, because in a few years, I'll be a distant memory."

"What about Adeem?"

"What about Adeem?" She repeated.

They stared at each other in the dark. Tyler shook his head. "If someone liked me as much as he does you, I'd keep them around."

"See, Tyler, that's why I still call you a baby. You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"There are a million people in this world. Just because you were born to a few of them doesn't mean that you're stuck with them. Just because you sleep with one of them, doesn't mean that you're destined to be together."

His eyes widened a little. "You and Adeem-"

"Of course not, not yet anyways," she said. "Besides, Tyler, he's just one guy. Trust me, there's more out there. Just like there are a hundred Alex's-"

"I'm over Alex."

"Yeah, sure," she said, rolling her eyes. "You know, you don't have to play tough for me. I know that you're not."

"I'm tougher than you."

"Why, because Max tells you so? Because you have people who make fun of you? Please. You can't even stand on your own. Now that Alex is gone, you've lost your crutch. I'd bring you a wheelchair, but I don't care that much about you."

His eyes could burn through steel. "One day, Tabitha, you're going to be sorry that you say the things you do."

"Why? Because your big, bad God is going to come down and get me?" She opened the pack of crackers.

"No, because you're going to say it to the wrong person and they're going to kill you."

"Are they now?" She snorted. "See, Tyler, the difference between you and me is that you sit there, day dreaming, wishing for the impossible. I, however, live. Sit there in your own world, Tyler. Never wake up. That's fine. We're all better off without you."

Turning his attention back to the notebook in front of him, he wrote something down before standing up. "Go to Hell, Tabitha."

"Plan on it, Tyler."

With that, he left the room. Tabitha shook her head, putting the crackers and coke back. She wasn't hungry anymore.

* * *

><p>"Have you seen Tyler and Tabitha today?" I asked Fang.<p>

He shook his head. "Last day before school starts back up, right? Probably stayed up all night last night. Let them sleep."

I pulled my legs up onto the couch. "You've got work soon."

"Yeah, I know," he said. "Hey, have you noticed how weird Luther's been acting?"

"No," I said. "I haven't been around him. I've only been the work with you."

"Hmmm."

"Max," Lance called coming into the room. "I wanna popsicle."

"Go get one."

"Me too?" Chris asked.

"Sure," I said. "Bring me a soda too."

"Okay," Lance said, running off to go do that. After they were gone, it was just me and Fang again.

"Cameron's pregnant."

Fang turned up the TV a little. "Cool."

I frowned. "Did you turn up the TV on me?"

"…Not on you, no."

"Because of me?"

"Max, I wanna watch this."

"It's freaking Forensic Files, Fang. The killer gets caught in the end. Oops, did I ruin it for you?"

"Why do you have to be a b-" He stopped himself.

"Say it. Bitch. Call me a bitch, I don't care. Man up, Fang."

"Why do you have such a screwed up picture of a man? 'Hit me Fang, come on, you're a man, aren't you? Can't back down from a fight, right?'"

"You are so messing up on my voice," I told him. "If you're going to quote me, get my voice straight."

He shook his head. "Just shut up, Max."

"Whatever."

* * *

><p>"How do you get a baby, though?" Samantha asked. "Like, really get one?"<p>

Damien frowned, trying to think of an answer for this. "Honestly, I have no idea."

As her father was rare to lie to her, Sam just nodded her head. "It's okay, Daddy, I'll find out for us."

He smiled. "How?"

"I'll ask Mom. She knows everything, you know."

"Yeah, I know."

Giggling, she gave him a hug. "Hey, Daddy?"

"What?"

"Can I have ice cream?"

"Sure," he said, standing up. They had been in her room, sitting on the floor. "Come on."

"Carry me."

"Sam-"

"Please?"

He groaned, lifting her up. "You're getting too old for this."

"No, you are."

"Me?" He took her downstairs. "Cameron, am I old?"

His wife, who was doing a crossword puzzle, didn't look up. "Old? No. Ugly? That's another question entirely."

"Mom, where do babies come from?"

"Why?" She looked up at Damien. "I thought I told you not to tell anyone that I was pregnant?"

"I haven't," he said, setting Samantha down.

"You're having a baby?" Samantha asked in shock. "Where'd you get it?"

"Damien."

"What? You're the one that said it, not me. Oh, and Max has been telling everyone anyways."

"God, can you tow not keep a secret?" She shook her head, looking back down.

"Why does it have to be a secret, Cammie?"

"It's still early, Damien," she said, still not looking at him again. "Anything could happen."

"What's the supposed-"

"Is the baby a boy?" Samantha asked.

"I don't know," Cameron said.

"Yes! You know everything."

In her head, she laughed a little. On the outside, though, she was not amused in the slightest. "Go away, Samantha. I'm busy."

"Come on, Daddy," she said, pulling on his hand. "Ice cream time."

Damien just stared at Cameron while letting their daughter pull him to the kitchen.

* * *

><p>When Tyler did finally come downstairs, he came to me with a question.<p>

"Can we go shopping?"

"For what?" I asked.

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff? Food or-"

"Clothes."

I looked him up and down. "You want me to go shopping with you?"

"No…Tabitha will come."

"No Tabitha won't," she said, also coming down the stairs. "Besides, even if I did like you, I couldn't. I'm going over to see Adeem today, remember, Max?"

No, not really. "Fine. You, Tyler, and Adeem can go shopping."

"Max, no," she said, stomping her foot.

"Tabitha, come here for a second," I said, getting up and pulling her into the kitchen. "Your brother has been moping around in his room for the past month. Why can't you do this one thing for him?"

"Because I hate him."

I reached into my pocket. "Twenty says you'll do it."

"Twenty says your crazy."

"Thirty?"

She shook her head.

I frowned, looking at my poor wallet. "Tabitha, I don't have that much money on me. Your father has all the money because he always does the shopping."

"How much do you have?" She asked.

"Fifty, but-"

"That'll do," she said, reaching into my open wallet and taking my hard earned money. Yes, hard earned. Sleeping on a counter is very uncomfortable.

"Fine," I said, putting it back. "But if he tells me that you are mean to him or that you and Adeem ditched him, you will be in so much trouble."

"Whatever," she said, walking out of the room. "Hurry up, Tyler. I don't have all day. Get dressed."

"I am dressed."

"You're going out in that?" She groaned. "Max, he's going to need money too. A lot of it."

"What did she mean by too?" Tyler asked, frowning at me.

"Nothing."

"You were talking about me in there, weren't you?"

God, slow much? I just smiled at him. "Go get your shoes and a jacket."

"Is Dad home?" Tabitha asked.

"Yes," I said. What? Did she think that I was just leaving the other kids here alone? I'm a bad parent, but not that bad.

* * *

><p>Max took them to the mall. She said that she had her own shopping to do, though Tabitha saw her head towards the food court. More than likely not to eat, but to find somewhere to sit down and sleep.<p>

"Alright, Tyler, where do you want to go first?" Tabitha asked.

"I don't know…Max does all my shopping."

Adeem sighed. "What are we doing, again?"

"I've decided that we are going to completely change him," Tabitha said. "We're going for a…dark look."

"Emo?"

"I hate that word," she said, frowning.

"Goth?"

"I hate that word too," she said. "That's why I said dark."

"Why?"

"They're taken so out of context," she said. "Come on, Tyler."

"Where are we going?" He asked, falling into step behind her and Adeem.

"Hot Topic."

"Ew."

"Tyler, there's rules to being dark. For one, you have to know that there are two types. Of course, there are many subgroups after you get past those two types, but let's just focus on them first."

"Alright, what are they?" He asked.

"Wannabes and can't-help-but-bes."

"Which am I?"

"Honestly, you should have so much hate in you by now, you couldn't be a wannabe if you tried."

"Hate? I don't hate nothing."

"Anything," she corrected. "And you, if anyone, should."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, come on. You have no friends, no life, your parents hate you, I hate you. Like I said last night, where's the noose?"

Tyler frowned. "That doesn't make me emo."

"Right, because you're not emo. That word means-"

"Chill, Tabitha," Adeem said. She was giving him a headache. "It's just a word, alright?"

"Whatever."

Tyler sighed. "Can em-"

Tabitha cleared her throat.

"-dark people go to church?"

"Sure."

"Really? Dan says that they're going to Hell."

"Dan says everyone's going to hell."

This was true.

"Max gave me a hundred dollars," Tyler said.

"What?" She had only given Tabitha fifty. "Where did she get it from?"

"Dad," he said. "Plus, I brought my own money from Christmas. I told her that I had it, but she said no, that she'd still give me some."

"You guys' parents are too giving," Adeem said. "I'm the only one at my house and they just gave me ten bucks. I can't even buy a shirt for that much!"

Tabitha glanced at him. "You stole a twenty from me last week."

"To give to L-"

"Not that one."

"…Anyways, what are buying him?"

"Shirts," she said. "And a new jacket."

Tyler sighed. "I guess you picking out my clothes is better than Max."

Way better.

* * *

><p>Fang was mad at Max, but was trying not to let it show. She had said that she was going to take the older two to the mall, meaning that he was stuck with the other six. It wasn't until after she was gone that he remembered the fact that he had work.<p>

"Calm down," Fang told Chris. "You like your car seat."

"No!"

Fang sighed, buckling him in. "Well, get over it."

"Me next, me next!" Lance yelled, excited. He loved his car seat. It made him taller.

Lucas sighed, getting into the front seat. "Could we hurry this up?"

"Shut up," Fang said, getting Lance in. "Jay, you don't use yours anymore, right?"

"Yep," he said, getting into the way back. "I'mma sit back here."

"Me too!" Neo yelled.

"No," Cody said. "Then me and James can't sit together."

"Get over it," Fang said. "Now all of you get in. I'm late."

"It's okay, Cody," James said, crawling into the back, Neo right behind him.

"Now I have to ride with the babies," Cody complained. "It's almost as bad as riding next to Tyler!"

"Shush," Fang said, frowning at him. "Alright, do you all have your toys and stuff? I'm not coming back? Lance, Chris, you guys got Mr. Tiger and Wat?"

"Yep," Lance said, holding his up. Chris nodded, chewing on the tigers tail.

"Alright, good," Fang said, pulling out.

"How come Max didn't take this car?" Neo asked from the way back. "She loves the Splorer."

"It's Explorer, Neo," Fang said. "And I don't know. Guess she just wanted to take her car."

"She always says this is her car."

"I know why she took the other," Lucas said. "Look, we're almost out of gas."

"Goddamn it, Max," Fang cursed. "Now I have to stop for fucking gas? Stupid bitch."

All of the boys got really quiet, except for Lucas, who was suddenly very defensive over his mother.

"You take that back," he yelled at his father. "Mom is not a bitch."

"Watch your mouth."

"You watch yours."

"Lucas Roy, I am so close to-"

"What? Calling me a bitch?"

He hit him in the mouth. Lucas was in shock.

"I'm telling Mom!"

"Good," Fang said, pulling into a gas station. "Good."

* * *

><p>When we got home, no one was there.<p>

"Huh," I said. "Wondered where Fang went."

"To work," Tabitha told me.

"…Well, hope he's having fun."

Tyler walked in behind us. "Are you sure it looks okay?"

Tabitha, now that she was home and knew she had been cheated a fifty, snapped at him. "Tyler, shut up about your freaking hair. You got new clothes, a haircut, and she didn't even yell at you when you said you hadn't started your winter break project yet. Just shut up."

She stomped off up the stairs. Tyler looked at me. "Are you sure?"

"It's fine, baby," I said. "I'm going to take a nap. Lay off your sister, okay?"

He nodded before running off. Sighing loudly, I got the cats and the dog water before going to lay down. I was only there for a minute before my phone went off.

"What?" I answered.

"Could you, like, start dinner?" Fang asked.

"Nope."

"What?"

I rolled onto my back. "If you're going to call me names, do it to my face."

"How-"

"Lucas used your phone to call me while you were in the gas station. Don't hit my kids."

"I'll hit them if they need to be hit."

"That's fine. Make him hate you too. Go on."

He sighed loudly. "Just start dinner."

"No."

"So you're going to punish me at the expense of your children?"

"Maybe."

I was annoying him, horribly so. His breathing got heavier, symbolizing that he was about to yell at me. And over the phone too! This is getting way less personalized.

"Look, Max, you're going to fucking start dinner, alright? You do nothing all day and I let you most of the time, but not today. Do are you're told for once."

What I'm told? You know, I was really just kidding with him. I would have gladly started the hotdogs, but now, no way. "Fuck you, Fang. Do what you're told and go take the stick out of your ass. I am so done with you right now, you don't even know."

"You-"

I hung up. A second later, the phone rang, but I didn't answer it. Instead, I went back to sleep.

"Max?"

It was Tabitha. I groaned. "I'm sleeping."

"Dad's on the phone and he wants to talk to you."

"Tell him that's low, going through you."

She sighed, relaying the message. Then she put her phone back into her pocket. "He started yelling, but then Luther took the phone, so I hung up."

I rolled over. "If he calls again, telling him to go to hell."

"Really?"

"No, just ignore the call."

She nodded before leaving. God, Fang has been so bitchy recently.

* * *

><p>"Don't you ever hang up on me."<p>

That was my wake up call. I grunted. "Whatever."

"Don't you whatever me."

"Too late," I said, turning onto my back. Fang was standing at the door, a bag of fast food in his hand.

"You know, what-"

"Fang, just go away," I said, closing my eyes again. "I don't want to hear you anymore."

"Yeah, well, you're going to have to."

"No, I'm not," I said. "Why are you even mad at me? Huh?"

"You hung up on-"

"Before that."

"You didn't fill up the tank."

"So?"

"I had to stop at the gas station, Max. That annoys me, being late."

"Like Luther cares."

"But I do, Max. I get it. You could care less about your work. It shows. Me though, I care."

"And? You act like I killed someone. Chill, Fang."

"I can't when your-"

"Are you still having…you know."

"No."

Mom cut back Fang's prescription, thinking that he was becoming too dependent. The thing is, though, she doesn't have to live with pain killer deprived Fang.

"Just tell her that you need more," I told him.

"I don't."

"Fine, whatever."

"Here," he said, laying a bag on the bed. "Food."

I smiled a little. "Thanks."

"Don't go thinking that means that I'm alright with you now, because I'm not."

"Sure," I said as he left. He came back with a milkshake too. "For me?"

He sat it down. "But its strawberry. Bet you don't like that, huh?"

He was trying to make it sound bad, but he was being nice. I took it. He knew that strawberry was my favorite. "Thank you, Fang."

"Yeah, whatever," he said, walking off to the bathroom. I ate most of my food before getting up and going to check on the boys.

"Bath time," I told them. "Chris and Lance, go get your nightclothes and then go to my room. You're gonna take a bath in there, alright?"

They jumped up and ran off. They still bathed together. Neo and Jason didn't anymore, because Neo has recently been on a 'I'm a man' kick.

"You guys need one too," I told Jason and Neo. "Neo, you first. Upstairs bathroom."

He ran off and then it was just me and Jason.

"Are you and Dad fighting?"

I sat down next to him. "No, of course not."

He smiled at me. "I'mma start school soon, you know."

"I know."

"It'll be great! Ride bus-"

"Not yet, you're not," I said, looking down at him. "The big kids do that."

He sighed loudly. "Well, I'm gonna have a bunch of friends, at least."

"Of course."

"Except girls."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Their nasty."

"'cept Sam. Sam's nice. Other girls are nasty."

"Yeah."

He giggled. "You think that I'll be good at school?"

"Huh?"

"Will I be like Ty or Tabby?"

"Neither," I said. "You'll be like you."

"Long as I'm not like Lucas."

I sighed, kissing his head. "You're funny, Jason. I love you."

"I love you too," he said, smiling.

* * *

><p>Alex was late to 6th period. She had history before that and everyone knows that you sleep in history. So, she was busy getting a detention and was late. The stupid teacher refused to give her a pass too! When she walked into science, everyone was already paired up into partners.<p>

"Never have I been so happy for a tardy," Mrs. Mason said, smiling at Alex. She was a nice, middle aged woman, who was always worried about her students. This years choice?

"Yeah, I-"

"Never mind that," she said. "Tyler needs a partner and I don't want to make him feel bad, so I was just letting him do it on his own. Now that you're here, you can be his partner."

Alex just stared at her. Really? She sighed, looking around. "I don't even see Tyler."

Mrs. Mason handed her a lab report. "He's over there, at the corner lab station."

That wasn't Tyler…or at least the one that she knew. Skeptical, she walked over there, setting her bag down before sitting next to him.

"H-"

"I don't want to be your partner," Tyler said. She was now certain it was him. His voice was distinguishable from everyone to her. She knew it better than her own family.

She sighed. "Well, you are."

He laid his head down. It wasn't like he had been doing the work anyways.

"I like your haircut."

"Not as much as Jorge's," he mumbled, flipping his hood up.

"You got new clothes," she said. "Max didn't buy these."

Was it that obvious that his mother used to buy his clothes? "Shut up. I don't like you."

"Good," she said. "Are you going to help me with this lab or what?"

"No."

"I'm not putting your name on something that you didn't do, Tyler."

"I didn't ask you to."

"It's a lab, Tyler. That means that it's a test grade."

"So? I want to fail. I want to fail for the rest of my life and never get out of here. Bet you'd like that, right? Then you and Jorge could live happily ever after and forget all about me."

"Is that what you think I want? To forget about you?"

"Obviously!"

"You're the one that doesn't want to be friends anymore, Tyler, not me. You're the one that won't return my calls, won't talk to me, won't let me sit by you act lunch. It's your fault, Tyler. Not mine."

"Whatever. You think that you're so smart, don't you? Well you're not. You're not any better than me, and either is your stupid boyfriend!"

"I never said I was!"

"Hey!" Mrs. Mason walked over to them. It was then that they noticed that the other kids were looking at them. Freaks…

It wasn't fair. Why did Alex have to be a freak just because Tyler was? She wanted to be his friend, but at what cost? The past month or so since he stopped being friends with her, her life was really starting to look up. She had friends, she had Jorge, she didn't have to only talk with Tyler. Of course, she still missed him a weird way. It was like your pinky toe. Did you really need it? No. But if you woke up one day and it was suddenly gone after professing its undying love to you that you didn't return, you'd miss it a little, right?

"I hate you!" Tyler yelled at her, as if that hurt her. His hate hadn't hurt her since they were four.

"Yeah, well, at least I didn't make an idiot of myself in front of everyone like you do on a daily basis. Like right now…freak."

Then everyone started laughing. Only, for once, it wasn't about the two of them. It was only at him. At Tyler. Caused by what was supposed to be his best friend. He wished that Tabitha was there, so she could go ahead and hand him the rope.

* * *

><p>"Max!"<p>

I shot up in bed. "What? What's wrong?"

Fang was glaring at me. "I went into Tyler's room."

"That's wonderful," I said, glancing at the clock. It was almost time to pick up the boys. "Find any dead bugs?"

"I thought that maybe, just maybe, those clothes that he was wearing when he left the house were just that. Something to wear today. No, apparently you've done his whole closet like that! Max, that's…bad kid clothes."

I frowned. "Bad kids?"

"You know…those kids that Bone would have hung out with."

"Fang, right now, I just want him to have friends. I would give him crack if I thought that the crack heads would take him in."

"Max…why can't he just hang out with Tabitha?"

"Because that's way too good for him," I said, laying back down. "We can't get him to there yet. Besides, the kids Tabitha hangs out with will be the ones that are all sleeping with each other later."

"Max!"

"What? They are. They're skinny white kids. It's what they do."

"She does not only hangout with white kids."

"There are a few that don't belong, like Adeem, but most of them are, Fang."

"So what?"

"White kids are always fucking around on each other," I said, shrugging.

"Max, that is our daughter."

"I know," I said, closing my eyes again. "It's just the thing that kids do. You think Adeem's bad? Just wait until she gets boy crazy."

"Not everyone turns into a slut in high school, Max."

"No, I don't think Tyler will be."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing, Fang," I said. "Just that you should probably keep an eye on her."

"…I don't like what you're saying."

I sighed. "It's just that you are always freaking about her and Adeem, when you should be focused on boys that you don't know."

"How can I focus on people that I don't know?"

"I have no idea," I said. "Better get to work though. One more year of junior high and they'll be 9th graders."

"Fun," he said dryly before walking away. I went back to sleep.

* * *

><p>A few days later, it was Saturday and I had the kids outside. Fang was wrestling with the younger ones on the ground. Tyler was inside, refusing to come out. Tabitha was over at her boyfriend's house, refusing to be around Tyler. Apparently, he told Adeem yesterday that Tabitha said that she didn't really care about him. Whatever. James and Cody were throwing around a football, while Lucas found his time better spent doing something else.<p>

"So…it lives for how long?"

Lucas held the bug up to me. "Three weeks. No food, one."

I frowned. "Lucas, do you torture your bugs?"

"Of course not. I just test their survival skills," he said, setting the bug back down. "I'm their god and they're my subjects."

I was trying to find out what that meant when two things happened. One, my cell went off. Though the second thing distracted me from seeing who it was, I later saw that it was Carlos. The other thing that happened?

"Cool!" Neo yelled, pushing Fang away as a man on a motorcycle pulled up to our house. It took me a second to realize who it was. I didn't until he turned off the bike, stood up, and pulled off his helmet. The helmet reminded me of something, but I didn't remember what.

"Bone!" I ran to him, abandoning thoughts of my son being a bug serial killer. I hugged him, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck.

"That's so cool!" Neo ran up to us, staring at Bone. He was usually nervous around strangers, but seemed at ease with Bone. "Your helmet looks like Iron Man!"

Bone let go of me, though I didn't him, and reached behind himself to pick up the helmet. "Here."

Neo put it on his head, giggling loudly.

"I wanna play," Jason yelled.

Fang was suddenly alive and angry. "No. Inside."

Lance looked at me and Bone before up at Fang. "I'm scared. Him scary!"

Fang picked him and Lance up. "Now, boys. Inside now."

"Bone?" Lucas stared at him before smiling. "Bone!"

"Uncle Bone," he said, moving to hug me again.

"Now, Lucas," Fang yelled, dragging the others inside. Lucas smiled at him once more before running off. As soon as he was in, Fang shut the door, not even waiting for me.

"Where have you been?" I asked.

"Shhh," he mumbled, holding me. "Reunited."

I closed my eyes, taking in deep breath after deep breath. He still smelled the same. Sure, Luther smelled like beer, but not the way Bone did. Bone was special. He was my brother.

"Yeah," I whispered against his chest. "Reunited."

* * *

><p>It took some convincing, but eventually, Fang let Bone come in. I think that he was afraid that he had come to take Lance.<p>

"What's your name?" Neo asked Bone the second he was in the door.

Jason looked at him adoringly. "He's Iron Man, Neo."

"Lance?" Bone asked.

"Me," Lance said, hiding behind Fang. He just looked at him.

"Why are you all slamming doors? I am in mourning, you know," Tyler said, coming down the stairs. Then he saw Bone. "Oh. Hi."

"Hi."

Lucas ran up the stairs, returning a second later with a shoe box. "These are my favorite bugs. I'll let you see them, but don't startle them. Some are very close to death."

"Later, Lucas," Fang said, crossing his arms. Lance started pawing at his jean leg until Fang picked him up. "Shhh, Lance."

"Monster knows my name," he whined. He didn't think that Bone was cool, like Neo and Jason. He thought that he was scary.

Chris frowned. "Scared? Lance scared?"

"Jason?" Bone asked.

"Iron Man knows my name!" He started bouncing up and down.

"What about my name?" Neo asked.

By process of elimination, Bone figured it out. "Neo."

"Me?" Chris asked. Of course, Bone had no idea who he was. I was barely pregnant with Chris when Bone left.

Bone ignored him, instead looking at Tyler and Lucas. "Ride?"

"On your motorcycle?" Lucas asked.

"You've got a motorcycle?" Tyler asked, also intrigued.

Bone nodded. Fang had had enough.

"No. No one is going anywhere with you, Bone," Fang said, frowning at him. "Anyone."

"I didn't want to take anyone with me. Just for a ride," Bone repeated. "Max?"

I was put in a tough place. Fang or Bone… "I don't-"

"I don't care what she says," Fang told Bone. "No one is leaving this house."

"Still the same jackass as always," Bone sneered. "Where are my dogs, Max?"

"Nina went with that little girl that used to watch them."

"Bubba?"

I hesitated. I didn't want to tell him that the dog was dead. "With Damien and Cameron."

Lance turned his head to look at Bone. "Max, make him leave."

"Lance-" I started, but his father cut me off.

"I'm leaving," he said. He gave me a hug before walking out of the house.

In my mind, Bone would come back one day and Lance would been in his teens and accept his father with open arms. Instead, he's still a kid, afraid of him, and won't be too happy when he finds out that this nightmare is his dad. Oh, and Jason thinks Bone is Iron Man. I don't even know what that is!


	21. Chapter 21

Broken

Chapter 21

Luther was at work, waiting for the wonderful, caring new worker he had. Max was just mean, but this girl was amazing

"What did you bring me today?" He asked, sitting up when the door opened. It was her, but someone was with her.

"Hi, Luther," she said, smiling at him.

"Hey," he said, frowning at Bone. "What are you doing here? And with her?"

"Naomi need roommate," Bone said, nodding at the woman. "I need room."

"What?" Luther wasn't at all thrilled to see his long lost friend.

Naomi laughed, shoving Bone a little. "I told him no, Luther. I'm looking for a girl roommate, not a guy."

He settled down again. "Oh. Welcome back, Bone. Have you seen-"

"Max," he said, walking off to the back. "I've seen Max."

"Wait, he works here?" Naomi asked, setting down a bowl of food in front of Luther.

"He did," Luther said as he pulled the foil off the bowl. "What is this?"

"Miso soup."

He frowned. "What's it made of?"

She shrugged. "My grandmother made it for me."

"You and your grandmother need a roommate?"

"Huh? No, she doesn't live with me," she said, smiling at him. "My mother, father, and grandmother live in this town too. I moved out, but go over there everyday."

"That's cool," he said, looking at the soup with interest. "So you're Chinese, right?"

"No. I'm Japanese."

"Even better," he said. "So, I was thinking. Me and you have been hanging out for awhile now, right?"

"We work together," she said, grabbing a clipboard off the counter. "Have you sent in the orders yet?"

"No, but I'm talking about something more important right now," he said. "We should date."

"I'm more concerned with this right now," she said, walking off to the back. "Monday, Luther."

"Huh?"

"We will go out on Monday," she said, closing the storage room door behind her.

* * *

><p>"Mommy, is Iron Man your ex-boyfriend? Because if he is, Daddy's fine with you leaving to be with him. Huh Daddy?"<p>

Fang sighed. "Bone is not Iron Man, Jason."

Neo smiled. "I think he is."

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "I want my dad to be Iron Man."

"Jason," I said, frowning at him. "Don't say things like that."

Fang shook his head, shifting Lance in his arms. Bone had left half an hour ago, but they were still worked up about it.

"Guys, chill, alright?" He looked at Lance. "You want down now?"

He shook his head, holding onto Fang stronger. "What if he comes and hurts me?"

"Why do you think that he'll hurt you?" I asked Lance.

"He's scary."

"Why?"

He just moaned, cuddling closer to Fang. Chris looked up at him before at me. "I'mma go potty."

"Okay, go."

Giggling, he ran off. Boys are so weird.

"Where's Bone gonna live?" Lucas asked. "He can share my bed, if he needs it."

"No," Fang said, walking out of the house, taking Lance with him.

"Where are you going?" I asked him, but I got on answer.

"Iron Man wouldn't do that to you," Jason mumbled, to which Neo nodded.

"Shut up, alright?"

* * *

><p>Damien was on the couch, napping, when there was a knock at the door.<p>

"I got it, Dad," Sam said. She had been sitting on the floor, playing a video game.

"Great," he mumbled sleepily.

"Hello," she answered. "Ooh, you're cute."

Bone just stared at the little girl. "Samantha."

"And you know my name," she said with a smile. "Are you here to take me away? Like…are you gonna be my husband?"

He shook his head.

"You should be. We're in love, you know."

Still just staring, he shook his head.

"Yes, we are. Now, what's your name?" She asked. "I have to tell everyone that I'm marrying you, so I need to know your name."

"None."

"You don't have a name?"

He shook his head. "Not anymore."

"That's sad," she said. "You know what?"

"What?"

"You can be Eric and I'll be Sam! Okay?"

"…Uh…"

"You know, like Eric and Sam on 16 and Pregnant? Only I don't know how to get pregnant. Daddy doesn't either so-"

"Sam, who's at the door? Cameron asked as she walked down the stairs. She glanced at the couch and found Damien passed out. Good thing…

"Eric," she said, grabbing her new crush's hand and pulling him into the house. "He's my husband."

Cameron's eyes widened. "Bone?"

"Eric," he said, glancing down at Samantha. "Eric."

"What?" Damien sat up. Then he almost crapped himself. "B-Bone. You're back."

"It's Eric, Daddy," Samantha said. "And I'm gonna need a second bed in my room."

"Why?"

"For Eric."

"If you were married, you would share," Cameron said, walking over to the chair and sitting down.

"Married?" Damien almost crapped himself again.

"Yes," Samantha said. "Huh, Eric?"

"Yes," he agreed. Eric…sure beats the hell out of Artemis.

"Bone, what are you doing here?" Cameron asked, now done with playing games. "And, Samantha, turn off the game thingy. My show's on."

"I was down here first."

"Well, I was alive first. I win."

"No," she said. "Everyone lived with God before they were born."

"Everyone lived with God before they were born," Cameron mocked in a high pitched voice.

"Dad, she's being mean to me!"

He just stared at Bone. "Why are you holding Samantha's hand?"

He shrugged. "Bubba?"

"Huh?"

"Dog. Bubba? Where?"

"Oh, uh, him…" Damien looked around for an excuse, but found none. "He, kind of, got old and, uh, died."

Bone dropped Samantha's hand and ran over to her father. "He what? You killed my dog?"

"Please don't hit me."

"Me hitting you isn't the worst of your problems, you little-"

"Eric, let Daddy go," Samantha yelled. "No wonder no one ever gave you a name. And if you hit him, the marriage is off."

Now, Bone didn't really plan to marry the girl. He's not sick like his father or anything like that, but he was finally getting the chance at what he always wanted. Slowly, he let Damien go, setting him back down on the couch.

"Good boy," she said. "Now, apologize."

Cameron was starting to enjoy her daughter, if only a little. "Shut up, Samantha, and take this stupid game off the screen so that I can watch my show."

"After Eric says sorry. You have to say sorry when you do something bad. Huh, Dad?"

Damien took in the fact that he could very easily have to be mopped up off the floor by his wife before answering. "No, no. It's fine, just this once."

Bone turned to Samantha and smiled. "Bye."

"You're leaving?"

He nodded. "Max."

"What?"

"He's going to be with Max," Cameron said. "Now take the stupid thing off my-"

"Max! Over me?"

"Max is my sister."

She gasped. "Really?"

"No," Cameron said, rolling her eyes.

"Yes," Bone, now Eric, said. "Really."

"Then me and Jason could be related! I'd be his ant."

"The word is aunt, Samantha," Cameron said. "God, you've spent too much time around Trinity's family."

"Whoa," Damien said. "That was very racist."

"Was not," Cameron said. "It was true."

"No, it's not."

"And I didn't mean it like that. God, you'd think you were black or something, Damien."

"Why are you always so-"

"I meant it like...they're underclass, not that they're black. Stop trying to look for reasons to make me look bad."

"I'm not looking, it's just obvious."

"I have plenty of black friends."

"For one, that's a very racist thing to say. Two, name one. The only person in the world that can stand you and be friends with you is Max."

"Excuse me, I am not a racist."

Bone shook his head. This was why he couldn't stand to be around the two of them. Damien was too sensitive and Cameron was too abrasive.

"Bye," he said to Samantha.

"Goodbye, Eric. I love you," she said, not even caring that he left without saying it back. All those little fourth graders were now suddenly less important. Eric was now her husband and she would be faithful to him…sort of.

"And another thing, Cameron, it is pronounced ant. The u is silent," Damien went on.

"Why would they put a letter there that is silent?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask the word xylophone?"

She groaned. "I was just telling her how to talk. It's not even a racial thing. Stupid southern people say it that way, and I don't want her to sound stupid."

"You made it racial by saying that she was getting it from my mom's family."

"Your mother's family speaks incorrectly, Damien. I never said it's because they're black."

"You might as well have."

She looked at the ceiling. "Do you think that I'm racist?"

"No, _Luther_, of course not."

"Do not even compare me to that stupid idiot, Damien," she said. "Besides, would you marry me if you thought that I was a racist?"

"My mom married my dad!"

"Well, your mom is stupid."

He jumped up. "You take that back, right now!"

"Excuse me?"

He was afraid of Bone, but Cameron was down right horrific. "Please?"

Groaning, she stood up and started up the stairs. "I can't even watch my freaking show without you or your daughter causing issues. Why do I even leave my room in the house that I bought? That I had before I even thought that I would take in trash like you or give birth to someone that falls for every guy older than her? Just…God!"

It was silent for a few minutes before Samantha spoke again.

"So are you ready to give me away on my wedding day?"

The tattoo artist just sat down and put his head into his hands. Why did his life always have to be hell?

* * *

><p>"Thank you," Lance told Fang, cuddling his stuffed dog to him. "I'm gonna name him...Wang."<p>

"Because Wog's already taken, right?"

Lance giggled, grabbing Fang's hand as they left the store. "Chris is gonna be jealous."

"Eh, he can get over it," Fang said, smiling down at him. "You know, Lance, if you want, I can make it to where you never have to see Bone again. If you want, I mean."

"Max likes him."

"How do you know that?"

"She hugged him. You only hug people that you like," he said. "Right? Don't hug strangers. That means they're bad. Don't take their candy either, huh?"

"That's right," Fang sighed.

"Wang wants to know what type of dog he is."

"He's a pitbull."

"Rawr! They bite hard," Lance said, making a motion with his mouth. "If Bone tries to hurt me, I'll have Wang bite him."

"Yeah," Fang sighed as they made it back to the car. "Get in, Lance."

He got into his car seat, setting Wang in his own seat. "Buckle in Wang too."

"Of course," Fang said. The dog was in the middle seat, so it wasn't hard. "There, happy?"

"Yes. I love you, Fang."

He leaned over and gave him a kiss. "I love you too."

* * *

><p>"-he's the coolest cat, with the heart of steel. But Iron Man-"<p>

"Jason, chill," I told him, sighing. "I hate that theme song."

"I love it," he said, staring at Bone. "And I love you, Iron Man. I used to like Warpath from X-Force, but now that I know the real Iron Man, you're my favorite. That's just Marvel though. If we add in others, it'd be Captain Carrot, hands down. Though, I do like-"

"Bone doesn't care about that, Jason." What the hell is Captain Carrot? Thank God Fang doesn't let them read DC.

"Not Bone, Max, Eric," he said, looking around.

"What?"

"Well…fine, Bone. But Eric replaces Artemis now."

Yeah, because Eric is so much better. "Whatever, I'm still calling you Bone."

"Fine. Just don't call me Artemis."

"Why not?"

"That's only reserved for…well, you can, but no one else."

I sighed, sitting down on the couch. "I wasn't planning on call you that anyways…Bone."

He smiled. "Thank you."

"I'm calling you Iron Man," Jason said. "Or should I say Anthony Stark?"

Neo giggled. "We watch you all the time, on your cartoon. Fang has all of them on video. I would ask you to watch them, but you probably don't wanna. You see enough of yourself, huh?"

He just blinked. "Which one are you?"

"Neo."

"Right."

Neo smiled. "You can sleep in my room, Iron Man."

He cocked his head to the side. "I do need a room."

"Mine," Lucas said suddenly. He had been in the kitchen, playing with Fox, but had now returned. "You can sleep in Tyler's bed. I don't like him anyways."

Bone blinked. "Tabitha?"

"She's at her boyfriend's house."

He looked as if he were in thought for a second, before nodding and sitting down next to me. Chris climbed into my lap while studying him.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi."

Then he smiled. "I use the toilet and eat with a fork."

"Me too…sometimes."

He giggled more. "Bone…Here."

Chris pointed to his arm and Bone nodded. "Yeah."

"So are you staying in my room?" Lucas asked Bone. "Huh?"

He shrugged, getting up. "Leaving."

"Where?" I asked. "You just got here."

He nodded. "Nina."

"Are you coming back tonight?"

He shook his head. "Love."

"I love you too," I mumbled, slightly saddened. I know that he had been to my house twice in the few hours he had been back in town, but still. I expected him to be with me for the rest of the day. We were brother and sister, you know. Were...

"Bye, Iron Man!" Jason yelled.

"We'll miss you, Anthony," Neo called after him.

"You haven't even seen my bugs," Lucas said, frowning as Bone closed the door behind him. "I thought he was my uncle."

"He was your uncle," I said. Was…

* * *

><p>"You know, I didn't want to come home yet," Tabitha started as Fang pulled away from Adeem's house. "We were having a very important-"<p>

"Bone's back," Fang said, not caring to know about what they were talking about.

She was silent for a second. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"I bet Max is happy," she said, an undertone of bitter in her voice.

"Yeah, I bet she is too," Fang said, frowning. "Wouldn't you want her to be happy?"

"Wouldn't you?"

"What at you trying to ask?"

"I want her to be happy," Lance told them.

"I just mean, you don't like Bone, right?" Tabitha looked at her father.

"I don't care for him, no, but I don't hate him."

"Well, I do. I hate him and Luther! You can't just come back and act like nothing ever happened. They left us and now they have to pay."

He glanced at her before back at the road. "Pay?"

"Yeah," she said. "Pay."

"How?"

"I don't know. At the least, they have to fix what they broke."

"Like what?"

"Like…James. Luther doesn't even talk to him. Maybe if he left me alone and focused on him, Adeem's dad wouldn't think that I come from a family of freaks! And he doesn't even know Tyler to think that. Only Luther."

"Tyler is not a freak."

She snorted. "Anyways, I don't like Luther."

"We were talking about Bone."

"Him too. I don't like him neither."

"You mean either?"

She stared at the road too, if only to keep from looking at him. "At least I'm going to college, unlike you. Trying to correct me and you didn't even go to grade school!"

He had to watch his tone as his next words came out. "College? People who leave at 15 don't go to college."

Eyes widening, she was for once taken by surprise by her father. The only time she had spoke that thought aloud was... "Y-You heard that? All of that?"

"You guys think that you're the only ones up in the middle of the night," he said, snorting. "And when did you think that you could use the f-word freely?"

She sat up a little straighter, trying to regain her composer. "It's not right to eavesdrop."

"Yeah? It's not right to hurt your brother like you do."

"Maybe I don't care about right and wrong. You can't make me!"

"No, I can't. But I can ground you."

"Might as well," she said. "I'm leaving soon anyways."

He snorted. "You'll be running back home, crying a day after you do."

"That's what you think! You don't know anything. That's why we all hate you," she spat. "Maybe I am glad that Bone's back. Hopefully Max will get with him and finally leave you."

"Either way you're stuck with me. You're my daughter, not hers."

"No, I'm Lydia's daughter."

"Last time I fucking checked Lydia didn't want you!"

"Last time I checked, I don't fucking want you!"

Lance started crying and that was the only thing heard the whole way home, if you could call it that. Is it really a home when no one wants to really be there?

* * *

><p>When Fang got home, he was extremely pissed. I was starting to actually be glad that Bone wasn't there, so that we didn't have a murder on our hands.<p>

"What's wrong?" I asked, but he just pushed past me and down the hall, the slamming of our bedroom door soon following. I looked outside and saw Tabitha getting Lance out, who was crying loudly, holding a new stuffed animal in his hands.

"Here," I said, going out there and getting him. "I got-"

"Don't talk to me," she said, letting me take him and walking off.

I am so done with Tabitha, Tyler, and Fang. I try and be nice and they all act like I'm an outsider. Like I didn't wipe Tyler and Tabitha's asses and let Fang treat me like trash in the past. I'm just as much a part of their lives as anyone and they had better learn that and quick.

"What's wrong, baby?" I asked Lance, carrying him and the new toy into the house. "Huh?"

"They started yelling and…Max!" He wrapped his arms tightly around my neck.

"Shhh," I soothed, carrying him to his bedroom. Chris jumped off the couch and followed.

"What's wrong?" He asked Lance as I laid him down on his bed. "Where'd you get that?"

Lance sniffled, holding it out to him. "It's Wang. He's a pitbull. Rawr."

If this were Jason and Neo, there would be a huge fight over the fact that one of them got something and the other didn't. Chris just giggled. Lance smiled weakly, rubbing the stuffed toy against his best friend's face. Then they both started giggling, taking turns shoving the dog in the other's face. I smiled a little, getting up and leaving them to play.

The rest of them can complain about this world all they want. If they just stopped and played like Chris and Lance for a second, maybe they'd back away from the edge and realize how good they all really have it. Turn off the HIM for just one second and listen to some Weird Al, people, and death won't seem all that great. God.

* * *

><p>Bone walked into his old apartment building, feeling nostalgia take over him. Then he realized it was just that he hadn't had a beer in a day and shook it off. Up to his old floor and then to the apartment across from his. Knocking on the door was hard. What if she didn't want him to take Nina back? And where would he take her? These questions were quickly solved, however, when the door wasn't answered.<p>

"What do you want?" Came a shrill voice from the other side. "To rob a little old lady like me? No, I don't think so. I have a gun, you know, you little crooks. With your pants down below your waist."

Oh, Cameron would just love this woman. If only he were a joking kind of man he might ask her how she said the word aunt. He wasn't though, so he didn't.

"I'm looking for the Jones's. I'm guessing they don't live here anymore."

"You're guessing right, low life."

Why are old people so mean?

"Do you know where they moved to?"

"Oh, I know this trick. Get me to open my door and then rape me."

Who rapes old people? That's just nasty. Bone sighed, walking away. It was no use. He went downstairs to the management office.

"I used to live here, and-" he began, but was stopped.

"Lost and found's down the hall. Though you should know that the new tenants are welcome to whatever they find."

"No, no," he said, shaking his head. "See, I was looking for someone that lived across the hall from me. They moved and have my dog and-"

"What do you want me to do about that? I'm a busy man. Get to the point."

Bone looked at the guy in front of him. In his late fifties, over weight, and bald. Normal landlord type.

"I want to know if they left a forwarding address."

"Now you know I can't give that kind of thing out," he said, finally looking up at him. "Liability and such…of course, that could all go away for-"

"Hundred. Here."

The man stared at it before turning and going over to a file cabinet. "Name?"

"Jones. Apartment-"

"Shut up, here they are. No address. Sorry, kid."

He looked at the hundred that the guy was pocketing. He thought about trying to get it back, but decided against it. He had stolen it anyways.

Walking back out of his old apartment building, Bone decided that he was stupid to ever even come looking. It had been years. It was stupid to think that things would still be the same. Bubba was dead, Nina was gone, and he had nowhere to stay. Of course, Lucas and Neo had both offered their rooms, but he didn't want to go back to Max's. Sure, it was great to see her and the kids again, but it wasn't the same. Nothing was. Nothing about this town was what he was expecting. It was just…memories. And, honestly, he drank to forget those, so why go somewhere that they stayed beer or not?

* * *

><p>"What is your problem?"<p>

Fang didn't look at me. I didn't care. I was mad at him.

"You come home, slamming doors, making all the boys upset-"

He mumbled something under his breath.

"What? If you're going to talk-"

"I said to shut up! God, just fuck off, alright?" He finally looked at me and I realized that I did care. I wanted him to look at me. "Your little boyfriend's back in town, go bother him instead of me."

"He is not my boy-"

"Sorry, brother. What? Pro incest, are we?"

"You are walking on thin water, Fang."

"I'm not God, Max."

We stared at each other for a second, but I broke first.

"Then I guess you're going to have to drown."

"Guess so."

* * *

><p>"What are you doing here?" Luther asked.<p>

"Work here."

"Not anymore, you don't," he said, frowning at Bone. "We close in ten minutes."

"What?"

"Yeah. After we left, Max and Fang changed closing time to midnight."

"Change back," he said, sitting down. Luther thought about this for a second before shrugging. He had nothing better to do.

"So how have you been?" He asked, trying to find something to talk about.

Bone laughed at him. "Good one."

"What? I'm serious," he said, looking around. "Don't read too much into this, but…I missed you."

It was silent in the store for a few minutes. Then the clock on the wall behind them that Lucas had give Fang for father's day a year ago made twelve cricket noises. It was midnight.

"I missed you too," Bone said, staring straight ahead. Luther smiled a little, his dry lips cracking slightly.

"When we leave again," he began, already knowing that they would, "we have to agree to meet up before our death. You're one of the best friends that I've ever had."

Bone looked at him out of the corners of his eyes. "Alright."

"Sober," Luther went on. "We have to meet each other sober. Then get completely wasted one last time."

"How do you know before you die?" Bone asked.

"Oh, you know. People just don't realize it. You get a feeling that they don't understand. Even people who die of something like tripping and accidentally falling off a building. They know it, they just don't realize," he explained. "We'll know the feeling though."

"We will?"

"Of course," Luther said. "Me and you, we know the secret. We know that life isn't the event. It's the sucky opening band. Death is what you pay for and afterlife is the encore that you didn't expect, but are blown away by."

Bone cocked his head to the side. "You don't think that we're going to Hell?"

"Bone, I don't know if Hell is real or not, but if it is, as long as we're together, we'll be alright."

He laughed. "Yeah, we will, won't we?"

"Yep. Bone and Luther. We belong together. I mean, if we were gay-"

"You're going too far."

"…Sorry."

"It's okay."

* * *

><p>"Why do they all fight so much?"<p>

Chris laid his pillow down. "I no know."

Lance laid his next to Chris's. "Gonna thunder all night, you think?"

He nodded. "Yes."

Lance left the room for a second, returning with a blanket. Chris left and came back with Mr. Tiger. Wat, and Wang. Giggling, the two boys laid down, comforted by the sound of their older sister breathing.

"Think Tabs will mind?" Lance whispered.

"No," Chris said, shaking his head.

They liked the lightening from storms, but the thunder scared them. Max had cried the whole night and was in her room while Fang was up in the attic. They didn't want either of them, nah-ah. They wanted someone that they knew what they were getting. Max and Fang always threw curve balls. Tabitha scolded them no matter what.

"I love you, Chris," Lance whispered, cuddling his two stuffed toys against him.

"Love you too," Chris said back, chewing on Mr. Tiger's tail. About ten minutes later, the rain that Lance had predicted came. Yawning as she woke up, Tabitha stood up to go let Tank in. She was walking to her door when she stumbled over something, more like someone.

"What are you two doing?" She asked, turning on her light.

"We're scared of the thunder," Lance said.

"Then go find Max or Dad!"

"Max is crying and Fang is mean," Lance said. "Please let us stay."

She sighed. "Just get up into my bed. Why did you get on the floor?"

"We didn't wanna wake you," he said as he and Chris jumped up, bringing their stuffed animal, blanket, and pillows with them to her bed. She groaned, walking out of the room. When she got to the kitchen, there was Tyler, at the table, in the dark, writing.

Saying nothing to him, she went to the backdoor and opened it. Tank ran in, licking her hand thankfully before going to get under the table. He didn't like thunderstorms either.

"You could have let him in, you know," Tabitha said.

"He's your dog."

"I feed Snickers most nights."

"I never ask you too."

She almost said something just as rude back to him, but stopped herself. Was it not her that said she would be gone soon? Did she really hate him that much, to spend her last years with him in a bitter battle? One that neither was ever going to win?

As she was walking towards the living room, she said, "One day, Tyler, before I'm gone, I want you to tell me what you write about at the dead of night."

After he had already heard her bedroom door close, he added a wish of his own. "And one day I want you to tell me what I ever did to make you hate me so much."

* * *

><p>I actually went to work the next day. I couldn't stay at home with Fang, after all. When I got there, Bone was there, but Luther wasn't.<p>

"What time did you get here?" I asked, sitting down next to him. I didn't have any of the kids with me.

"Yesterday."

"You worked the whole night? We close now."

He just stared at me. "Still sleep?"

"At work? Yeah. All the time."

"How?"

"Huh?"

He pointed to the wall behind me. "Kept me up."

"Lucas's bug clock?" I smiled a little. "You get used to it after awhile."

"Guess."

Laughing a little, I said, "I can tell that you're not happy to be back."

He neither confirmed nor denied this.

"Either way though, I'm glad that you're back," I told him. "I just think that you need to know that. It doesn't seem like anyone's told you that."

He blinked, not looking at me. "Sam has."

"Huh?"

"Bubba died. Can't find Nina. Jamisha moved."

"Oh," I said, trying to connect this to the six year old.

"Sam named me Eric," he said, smiling a little. "Sam's not Luther's."

I shook my head. "Neither is Tabitha, right now."

He shrugged. "Sam's mine."

"Sam's Damien's."

"Tabitha's Fang's. Luther still got her."

"She's not Fang's right now," I sighed. "Why do people always have to fight?"

"Nature."

"No. That's an excuse that stupid scientists always use when they realize that they can't figure something out. Why do killers kill? Nature. Why do some animals not like meat? Nature. No, that's just a lie."

"That's what God is, right? Why do people die? God. Why did my whole family get taken from me? God."

I shook my head. "I'm just so tired of Fang."

Bone looked at me. "Shut up."

"W-what?"

"At least Fang's alive. At least he loves you," he said, frowning at me. "There you go again, pretending like you know pain."

"And there you go again, pretending like you're the only one in this world that can hurt," I said. "I thought that leaving would change you, but no. You're just a selfish jerk."

It was silent for a minute and I thought of me telling Bone to leave. Even though it hurt me, I thought that it would be better for him. Instead, it just hurt the two of us and didn't help anything. Now I didn't even have him as a brother. Just a friend. It's like a cut. When it leaves you with a scar, it might not hurt, but you still hate it just as much.

"Have you ever listened to Weird Al?" I asked him.

Bone blinked. "Yes."

"Do you like him?"

"Better than what Luther listens to."

I laughed a little. Brother or not, I still loved him, if only as a friend. "Well, even Hannah Montana is better than that."

"Don't take this too far," he said, giving me one of his rare smiles. I smiled back.

"Did you miss me, Bone?"

"Yes," he said. "I told you that before."

"Yeah, but that was before. This is now. Now that we've fought, did you still miss me?"

He frowned, a weird look coming over his face. "You know, the last time I talked to Victoria, we were joking around."

I was silent, knowing that wasn't all he had to say.

"I didn't want her to leave. It was raining," he told me, turning to look at me. "The last thing she said to me was I love you."

"That's good," I whispered.

"No, Max, it's not," he yelled, as if I had said the wrong thing. "I want to go back and fight with her. I want to go back and yell at her. I want to go back and make something memorable happen, something that I won't forget. Because I've already forgotten what the last thing I said to her was. Did I say I love you? Did I just grunt as she left? Was I still complaining about the rain? If I had yelled it, I would know. I know the last thing I said to you, to my father, to Carrie. God, Carrie."

He looked away for a moment. "We were in the car, arguing before she died. I remember telling her that I shouldn't have to always take out the trash. It's not in a code of conduct, I said. My father, I called him an asshole. You, 'you'd leave too, right?' Remember? I do."

"I remember," I mumbled.

"Then why can't I remember, Max? Why?" He was crying now. Not sobbing, no. Tears were just coming down his face. I don't even think that he noticed.

I let him cry for a moment before speaking. "Knowing you like I do, and knowing the last thing she said to you, there's only one word you could have said."

"What?" He asked, staring at me liked Lance did when he wanted to know why there was a baby in the sun on Teletubbies.

"Love," I told him.

"Love."

"That's what you said," I told him.

He turned back around, sniffling. "…Thank you."

I laid my head down on the counter, trying to think of the last thing I had ever said to everyone I knew. I came up blank. "Your welcome."


	22. Chapter 22

Broken

Chapter 22

**February**

For the twins birthday this year, neither wanted to do anything. Tabitha wasn't even home. After school, she went to Adeem's. Tyler was home, where else would he be, and didn't want to do anything. We gave him his gifts, but it didn't look like he was enjoying them.

"I love parties," Jason said as the little boys ate their cake. Lance, who only ate frosting, finished first and gave the actual cake to Cody.

"Yeah," Chris mumbled, trying to figure out how to keep his ice cream from melting. Mom, who was sitting on the couch, sighed, watching the boys play.

"Too bad Tabitha isn't here," she said. "I really wanted to see her. What's she doing?"

"Her and Adeem are celebrating her birthday, I guess," I said. Luther, who had bought her a brand new Ipod touch, looked distraught.

"Well, I hope you like your phone at least, Tyler," Luther said.

"I guess I do," Tyler mumbled. He really had no reason for a phone. It's like giving Carrie from that Steven King movie a phone. What the hell would she have done with it?

"Good, good," he said, looking around. James took the silence to ask a question.

"Dad, can me and Cody spend the night on Friday? We could stay up late and watch movies and eat a bunch of food," James attempted to persuade.

Luther wasn't looking at him. Then he turned. "Oh, are you talking to me?"

James's courage was broken. "No, never mind."

"Stop!" Chris suddenly yelled. I looked over and saw Fox was in his ice cream. "Mommy!"

"Stop, kitty," Lance tried, pushing Fox away. He just moved back to the ice cream, still licking it.

"Chris," I sighed. "Do you want me to get you new ice cream?"

"No! I don't wan' it no more," he whined, getting up. "Daddy!"

Fang, who was sitting in the chair, looked at him. "What?"

"Kitty cat eated my ice cream!"

"Come here."

He ran over to Fang, who gave him a hug.

"All better?" Fang asked.

"No," he said, sitting in his lap. "Hold me."

"Of course," he said, clearly not wanting to. He wasn't in a good mood. When was he, anyways?

Lance looked at Fox. "You're bad."

"Shut up, Lance," Lucas said, frowning at him. He didn't like Lance. Even though we hadn't told the younger boys that Lance was Bone's son, the others all knew. No one has told Lance yet, but Lucas was still jealous of him, even though Bone seemed uninterested in his son. Bone's new focus?

"His name is not Iron Man, Neo, it is Eric and I love him."

Neo groaned. "You love every guy."

"Not you," she told him.

"I don't love you either."

Bone, the cause of the argument, listened to them fight for a second before going into the kitchen and getting more cake.

"Thank you, Eric," Sam said, taking it from him. Frowning, he got back up and got more again, this time holding it away from his fake fiancée.

"See, Neo? That's why I love him and not you."

Neo snorted. "Sure didn't look at him naked."

"Cut it out," Damien told them. The three of them were sitting on the floor, Damien standing over them. He didn't particularly like Bone playing house with Samantha, but as long as he was watching them the whole time, he was allowing it.

Bone looked at Neo. "Naked?"

"I said cut it out," Damien said.

Bone looked back up at him, making Damien take a step backwards. Cameron groaned.

"Man up, loser," she said to him. They had been arguing for the past month. He had called her racist or something and now they're having issues. I guess, if Fang called me racist, I would be upset to. Though, I would probably just call him homophobic and we'd move on. I mean, it's been a month. Cameron should just get over herself.

Damien ignored her, walking out the front door. Tyler jumped and went after him. I sighed.

"Nice, Cameron."

"What?" She gave Cody her untouched cake. When I'm pregnant, I have to force myself not to eat. Cameron, though, was always saying she wasn't hungry. If you have an excuse to eat all you want, why wouldn't you take it?

Luther looked at his watch. "Well, I guess if there's going to be no beer tonight, I should probably take off."

"Good," Fang said. Chris reached up and patted his face.

"Shhh, Daddy," he said. "You have to be nice to Luther. He's special."

"What?" Luther took offence to this. "I am not special."

Chris nodded. "No nice call people special to face. Him brain no right, Daddy."

"What do you tell your kids about me?" Luther asked, turning to look at me.

"Me? I'm sleep most of the time," I said, getting off of the couch. "Fang? I'm going to go…uh…do something. Can I have the keys to your car?"

"Why?" He asked, frowning.

"My two are…out of gas…and…"

"God, Max. Why are you so fu-" he stopped himself, realizing that we were with a bunch of other people. "No. You take one of the cars that you seem fine with running into the ground and go put gas in them."

"But I hate gas stations."

"Where are you going anyways?"

I frowned. "Please, Fang?"

"No."

He was making a scene in front of everyone. Why couldn't he just give me the damn keys? If he was trying to prove a point, he was failing.

"Come on," Cameron said, getting up. "I'll take you."

Fang frowned, watching me and Cameron leave. When we went outside, Damien and Tyler were nowhere to be found, but the car was still there, so it was okay.

"Where are we going?" Cameron asked as we got into her car.

"I don't know," I said as she pulled away from the curb. "Wouldn't it be funny if you hit Luther's car?"

"No, not really," she said. "Now, where are we going?"

"I don't know," I repeated. "Wanna go baby shopping?"

* * *

><p>The ball made a satisfying swoosh as it went through the net, making Damien smile. True, they could have just gone out to the backyard, Damien decided that wouldn't be as great.<p>

"You're good," Tyler told Damien, watching him shoot baskets. The park was almost empty on the February afternoon, which Tyler was fine with.

"It's cloudy today," Damien said. Tyler was playing ball boy for him.

"Yeah," he agreed, bouncing the ball back to him.

"Happy birthday, by the way," Damien said, making another shot.

"Thanks," he said as thunder crackled over head. "Maybe we should start back for home now."

"What? A little rain scare you?" Damien asked, yet again shooting and yet again making it.

"No," he said. "I just don't want to mess up my hair."

"Tyler," Damien sighed. "You're letting Tabitha change you."

"Am not," he said, this time making a shot of his own. The ball graced the rim, but didn't go in. "I just don't like getting wet."

"I used to play in the rain all the time," Damien said.

"Your mom didn't yell at you?"

"She was just glad that I didn't come home beat up," Damien said, shrugging. "Besides, rain hasn't ever hurt anyone."

"We'll get muddy walking back home," Tyler said.

"God made dirt so dirt don't hurt."

"Tell that to Ebola."

Damien laughed a little. "You know Tyler, they're all wrong about you."

"What do you mean?" He asked, chest passing the basketball back to the man.

"I was just thinking about how you never get into fights anymore."

"No one ever says anything worth fighting over."

"That's my point," he said. "You control if you get in a fight or not."

"So?"

"I just mean, those kids that make fun of you must be afraid of you, if they never want to fight you. If they really thought that you were a punk, they'd beat the crap out of you. Instead, they laugh at you from afar and leave you alone," Damien said with a shrug. "You got more power over them than you think."

"So what can I do?"

"If you just started beating them up for what they did, they'd have to leave you alone. They know that you can take them and don't want to look like losers in front of their friends, so you just have to do it a few times and they'll screw off."

"Won't get me any friends," Tyler said.

"No, it probably won't," Damien said. "But if you've made it this long without any, I'd say that you're just fine alone."

Tyler considered this as the first drops of rain fell from the sky. Fine…alone. Why did those words never go together?

* * *

><p>"You don't have anything left over from Samantha?" I asked Cameron.<p>

"No," she told me.

"What?"

"Where would I have put it, Max?"

"Attic, that extra bedroom-"

"That is Tommy's room," she said quickly.

I frowned. "Cameron, where are you guys going to put the new baby?"

"…With Samantha."

"Cameron-"

"My house, my rules. I don't tell you how to take care of the boys. If you really wanted to be fair, Max, you would give Tyler the attic and make your loser husband move all his crap out of there."

"Why would that be fair?"

"Tyler is just as old as Tabitha, you know, and just as important."

"I never said he wasn't."

"Whatever," she said. "Let's just pay for this stuff and get out of here."

"Fine by me," I said, following her up to the cash register. No wonder Damien tries to get away from her so much…

* * *

><p>Adeem and Tabitha were home alone at his place, sitting on his floor, their backs pressed up against the bed. He was playing a video game while she was on his laptop, going through his facebook.<p>

"You know, one day, you're gonna actually find something and be sorry that you looked," he said, not looking away from his game.

"What did you get me for my birthday?"

"Nothing," he said. "I told you that earlier."

"You can't be serious though."

"Why can't I?" He paused his game. "I just spent most of my money on that stupid winter present."

"Then why didn't you just borrow some of my money?"

"Then it's not really a present," he said. "I just don't think that I should have to buy you two presents. Plus, you'll want a card or something for Valentines Day too, huh?"

She closed he laptop and sat it to the side. "I just thought that you would get me something. Everyone will think that we're not together anymore if I can't brag about you getting me something. So if guys start asking me out, you only have yourself to blame."

Groaning, he reached up to his neck and took off the necklace. Jamal, his second oldest brother, had given it to him a long time ago, as an apology. A year before he moved to the same town as Tabitha, he and his brother Jamal, who was driving, got into a car accident. Adeem broke his arm and Jamal felt bad. To make it up to him, Jamal gave him a necklace that their grandfather had giving him before he died. It was too big for Adeem and used to hang down too far, but he had grown into it.

"Here," he said, putting it around her neck. "Now they can all see what I got you."

She grabbed it, staring down at the pendent. "What does the script on it mean?"

"Allah in Arabic," he said, smiling at her. "That good enough for you?"

Her father would flip when he figured it out. She had seen Adeem wear the necklace forever, but never had given it any thought. Now though, she had a way to freak Fang, which was always a favorite past time of hers.

"Perfect," she said, giving him a kiss. Adeem smiled.

"It's my grandfather's, so you have to keep up with it."

"He gave it to you?"

"No," he said. "Jamal did. He gave it to Jamal though."

"Why didn't he give it to Rashad?"

"Most of my family does not like Rashad," he said, shrugging. "Everyone loves me though."

"Of course," she mumbled, rolling her eyes.

Adeem smiled at her before starting his game again.

* * *

><p>"So when are you going to tell Lance that Bone is his father?" Cameron asked as we drove away from a drive thru. What? I only had a few pieces of cake… I've decided that I might as well take Fang's suggestion and try to gain a few. I swear, though, if I go over 110, I'm back to starving.<p>

"I don't know," I said, eating my fries. "Bone hasn't said anything about it, so I'm not going to do anything until I think that we need to do it."

"Still. You don't think that he deserves to know his father?" She turned on the windshield wipers when the rain started.

I shrugged. "I didn't know mine was my father until I was fourteen and Fang never met his. Don't you think that we turned out okay?"

She glanced at me. "Yeah, you should probably tell him sooner rather than later."

"What's that supposed to mean? You think that Fang and I aren't okay?"

"You both have obvious daddy issues," she said.

"What?"

"Fang can't stand the thought of the boys going back to their real fathers. Why? He doesn't think that any other man in the world can be a father except him."

"…Okay, so yeah, Fang has daddy issues, but I don't."

"Please, you clearly have problems with being a guy's friend. You're either too friendly, Bone, or not friendly at all, Luther."

"Oh, and what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You are like a freaking dominatrix with Damien," I said. "And not the good kind."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please. You're the one with daddy issues. Daddy doesn't love me and neither does Mommy or her new husband. That's all your life's ever been."

"Excuse me?"

I sighed, leaning against the window. "Don't act like you don't, Cameron. It's no big deal. Everyone has daddy issues. Just some people know how to hide them."

She turned up the stereo, no longer wanting to talk to me apparently. After a second though, she turned it back down and spoke.

"Am I racist?"

"No, Luther."

She frowned. "It's just…he seemed so mad at me."

I shrugged. "It's been what? A month? You guys need to move on. Fang and I fight all the time."

"Has he ever called you a racist?"

"No," I said. "I don't think so. Well…probably. I say some stuff that's iffy."

"Well, I don't. He just likes making me look like a bitch."

"Well, I doubt that," I said. "Damien really does love you, Cameron. I mean, come on, you treat him like crap and he still stays with you."

"I do not," she said, now not as mad at me, but more mad at the fact she knew I was right. "I don't. Do I?"

I shrugged. "Fry?"

"Max."

"Cameron, I'm just saying…you are kind of pushy and stuff."

"So?"

"You don't let him talk, much less have an opinion on anything, and boss him around," I told her. "Now I respect that. Other guys? They think that he's a fuck ass."

"He was a pussy before I met him, Max."

"Still, you make him seem…weaker."

"Name one person that makes fun of him. I'll beat the-"

"See? That's the point, Cameron. You treat him like a little boy."

"And Damien loves it."

"You're just another Trinity to him," I said.

"Ew. That means that he has sex with his mom."

I shrugged. "They're not blood. He's probably thought about it before-"

"Max, that's sick. Does that mean that Tyler thinks about you?"

"Ew! No."

"Exactly."

I huffed, realizing I had eaten all my fries. "I'm still hungry."

Cameron just sighed and pulled into Taco Bell.

* * *

><p>Cameron and I stopped off to pick up Tabitha on the way home.<p>

"Hey, Tabby," I said. "Burrito?"

She frowned, getting into the car. "No, I'm good."

Whatever. Thinks she too good for my burritos… "What did you and Adeem do?"

"Nothing," she said, buckling her seatbelt.

"You better have done something, seeing as you ditched your party."

"We didn't-"

"What's that?" I saw in the rearview mirror that she was wearing a necklace.

"My gift," she said, looking out of the window.

"He bought you jewelry?" Cameron asked.

"No. It's his," she said. "His grandfather's."

"Ooh," Cameron and I said together.

Tabitha didn't look like she was happy though. I looked back up at the mirror and saw her still staring out the window.

"What's wrong, Tabitha?" I asked. "You didn't like the gift?"

"I did," she said, absently reaching up and grabbing it.

"Then what?" I asked.

"What do you mean what?" She was getting irritated with me. "Do I have to freaking jump up and down with joy? It's just a freaking necklace."

"Yeah, Cameron," I said, making her frown at me. "How dare you question her?"

"Did something happen?" Cameron asked Tabitha. "You just seem…sad. Did you guys fight?"

She shrugged.

"About what?" Cameron asked.

"Nothing. We didn't fight."

I frowned as I got to my last burrito. "Sure you don't want some burrito? It'll make you feel better. No? Well, I guess I'll just have to eat it…"

"So if you didn't fight, did you guys do something?" She asked. "Did you break something?"

"No," she said, now staring at Cameron. "We just stayed in his room all day."

"What about his parents?"

"What about them?"

"Were they home?"

"Does it matter?"

I listened to them while I ate my burrito. It was a good burrito too.

"No," Cameron said. "I was just trying to talk to you."

"You're not my mom."

Okay, I'm jealous. She's only supposed to say that to me! "Yeah, Cameron, you're not her mom. Geez, go bother Samantha."

"You're not either," Tabitha told me.

"Thank you," I said. "I was feeling left out."

Tabitha made a face at my back, but said nothing. Then I finished my burrito. It was horrible, realizing that you ate all of your food. Man, forget daddy issues. I'm about to start foody issues.

* * *

><p>"I don't know, Mom," Damien said, staring at her. "I just don't like what Cameron said."<p>

"It's been two months."

"One month."

"Still, Damien," she said, smiling at him. "Cameron's nice."

"I thought that you hated her?"

"I do not hate Cameron," she said. "I just don't like certain things that she-"

"Trinity! Have you seen my NIV?"

"Why, Dan? I thought that you hated the NIV?"

He walked into the living room. "I do. I was going to show the boy the differences in text."

"Damien knows all about-"

"Not him, the other one," Dan said. "Ain't he in the kitchen?"

She nodded. Damien and Tyler had ran to his mother's house, which was closer than Tyler's, when it started lightening. Damien had called Fang to tell him where they were, but he didn't seem to care that much.

"Boy!" Dan walked into the kitchen. "Have you seen my NIV?"

"Anyways, baby, just get over what Cameron said," Trinity told him. "Besides, you knew when you married her that you two would have issues with stuff like this."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Cameron grew up with everything that she wanted."

"Not according to her."

"Of course not. She wouldn't see it that way. She's unfortunate like that."

Yeah, that's what Cameron was. Unfortunate. Sometimes his mom said really stupid things.

"How is she unfortunate?" Damien asked, not believing this for one second.

Tammie, knowing that her real father didn't love her, was unfortunate. Tyler, knowing that everyone hated him, was unfortunate. Samantha, not understanding why her mother was so mean to her, was unfortunate. Cameron, getting whatever she wanted, but having to put up with a mother that was just using her, was just a minor set back. Damien didn't even know his real mother, at least Cameron did.

"Look at her. She has no idea what family is, has a hard time making friends, and hurts everyone that loves her," Trinity said, smiling at him. "She's just not used to someone like you loving her. The people that loved her were her brothers and fathers and they had to. You know that. She's just getting used to you, that's all."

"It's been an awful long time for her to still be getting used to me. Eight years since we started dating."

"I still have a hard time getting used to D-"

"Trinity! The boy doesn't know where it is either. Do you?"

"Dan, I haven't touched your bibles."

"Maybe you should," he said, going off on a tangent point. "Maybe that's why you've been having such a hard time. You don't follow God anymore, Trinity."

"Dan, I go to church with you every week."

"Your body goes but your heart doesn't."

She sighed. "See, Damien? I can't stand that. Like your all of a sudden some sort of better person than me? What, Dan? Huh? I don't know where your stupid bible is, so cut it out, alright?"

"Spending too much time with your family," he mumbled, walking into the living room and going to the coffee table. "That's what you-"

"Wait, what did you just say?" Damien asked.

"I said that she's been spending too much time with her family," he repeated. "Think she can talk to me, her husband that way? Ha. Worthless woman."

"Me? I'm worthless? I brought you where you are, Dan, and sure as Hell can drop you back down again."

"Don't you use that kind of language with me."

Trinity stood up. Damien was afraid of his father. Trinity wasn't. She had no fear of Dan. She never had.

"Or what, Dan? Huh? Or what?" She looked at him hard, as if daring him to speak. "Took you in and you act so ungrateful."

"You took me in? Hardly."

"Yes, took you in. You and your son."

"You were begging to be with me, Trinity. That's all you ever did. You needed me."

"Never needed a man-"

"As if you could survive without me!"

They had a stare off and Damien took that time to get Tyler and get out there.

"See what you did?" Trinity walked into the kitchen, putting Tyler's plate into the sink. She had made him a sandwich. "You ran them off. And into the rain. You run everyone off, Dan!"

He sighed, following her. "You think that I wanted that boy to leave?"

"You always want Damien to leave!"

"Not that one. And no, I do not."

"He's afraid of you, Dan," she said, starting to wash the dishes. "They're all afraid of you and don't come over here because of you. What about me? They love me, but don't want to be here when you are."

"What are you trying to say? You want me to leave?"

"No," she sighed. "I just want you to be less…uptight."

"Uptight," he repeated slowly.

"Yes," she said, turning to look at him. "You always are mad about something. Just stop."

"I was just trying to explain to you that you don't read your-"

"See?" She put her hands on his chest. "Stop it. You don't have to be the angry, old Dan Sheer all the time. Just be happy."

He pulled her to him, hugging her for a second before letting her go. "I'm…sorry that you don't like the way I am."

She rolled her eyes, pushing him away. "I don't dislike the way you are. I just get annoyed with you sometimes, that's all."

"…So can you help me find my bible?"

"I don't know where it is," she said, still washing the dishes. "Samantha's spending the night on Saturday."

"What?"

She shrugged. "I mean, if you're too uptight-"

"Fine, fine," he grumbled, walking off to find his bible. Damien was tolerable. Cameron was ignorable. Samantha was neither of those and also had a habit of exerting her power over him. Saturday would not be a good day for him.

* * *

><p>"Eric?"<p>

He looked at her.

"I don't want you to be my prince anymore."

Bone was shattered. What had he done? As long as it didn't involve spending time with Max, he would gladly give it up for the little girl.

"Instead," Sam went on, "you are now going to be my knight. Then you'll be a prince when we get married. Okay?"

"Okay," Bone said as Neo came down the stairs. He was still at Max's house, waiting for her to get back before he could leave. He had to tell her goodbye, after all. Plus, Sam was stuck here until her parents got back, so he was able to keep her company. Not to mention the rain… Yes, so there were many reasons for Bone to stay right where he was at Max's house.

"Alright, Samantha, I give," Neo said.

"Give what?"

"You're just pretending with Iron Man," he said. "You know that you're just trying to make me jealous."

"No," she said, looking adoringly at her knight in shinning armor. "Me and Eric are in love. You were just a mistake."

"But-"

"Don't worry kid," Luther said. "Been there, been that. Woman will wine and dine you and then leave you, naked and cold on the floor of a bathroom…or the woods depending on-"

"Luther, stop," Fang said, glaring at him.

Luther never really had left. His plans were actually false, just wanting to make them think that he had somewhere to be. He didn't. He never did.

"Iron Man, how could you do this to us?" Jason cried out. "You took Neo's girlfriend and are trying to take my mommy. Well, no more! Gambit is my new favorite."

Bone blinked. "Smoke."

"Not in the house," Fang told him.

"Rain."

"Go in the garage."

After he was gone, Neo sat down next to Samantha.

"Why is he better than me?"

"Because he's taller, older, smarter-"

"That's debatable," Luther said.

"Plus, Neo, we are in love. I am not, in the slightest, in love with you. I'm not even around love with you!"

Jason was fed up with her. "Shut up, Samantha! You think that 'cause you're older that you're smarter, but you're not. Neo is wonderful!"

"Jason," Neo said, now becoming bashful.

"If anything, you should be in love with me, not him or Iron Man," Jason said, suddenly turning.

"What?" Neo looked at him. "You don't even like her!"

"Well, if everyone else, even the adults, is getting a turn, I want mine," he said. "Sorry, but it's only fair, Neo."

"Alright, alright, settle down," Fang said from the chair. Dr. Martinez had already left, so he was now able to make his bad mood known. "You guys need to stop this. Neo, you broke up with her. Jason, bros before…the other word. Samantha, honestly, you know as well as I do that you and Bone are not going to get married."

"His name is Eric and yes we are, Fang. He loves me. He told me so."

"Not like that, Sam," Fang said.

"Let her dream," Luther said. "Better to dream now. I mean, at some point, she'll be twenty, alone, and miserable. Let her have now, if only now."

"Eric!" Sam got up. "Eric!"

"What?" He came out of the garage and back to the living room, his cigarette in hand. "What's wrong?"

"Tell Fang that you love me."

"Love."

"And that you're going to marry me."

"Marry you."

"See?" Sam crossed her arms.

"Bone, you know that you're not serious."

"Yes, he is, huh Eric?"

He just nodded. Giggling, Sam went to stand next to him.

"You just don't get it, Fang, because you're old."

"Bone is older than me!"

"He's name is Eric, but it doesn't matter how old he is," she said, staring up at her love. "He's better looking than you, so it beats out."

Luther started laughing. "Bone? Really?"'

Samantha was starting to get all worked up. "Yes! I'm going to tell Dad how mean you were to me and he's gonna tell my mom that it makes him upset and then she's going to yell at you."

Fang just blink. "Bone, take that cigarette back to the garage."

He walked away, Samantha following. Neo frowned as Jason moved closer to him.

"You can't just try and take her from me," Neo told him.

"She's not yours to take. She's Iron Man's and he doesn't seem to care that much."

Neo just crossed his arms. Jason was a crummy friend…

* * *

><p>"What's that?"<p>

"What's what?"

"Tabitha."

"Fang, we just got in the door," I said. "Are Damien and Tyler back?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Tyler had to go take a shower. They were soaked."

"What about Damien?"

"He went out to the garage to dry off."

Cameron walked off, probably to go check on him.

"Now, what's that thing around your neck?" Fang repeated.

"Nothing."

"Looks like a necklace," Luther said.

"Thank you, idiot," Fang said. "Where did you get it, Tabitha?"

"Nowhere."

"Tell me. Now."

"Adeem gave it to me, okay?"

"Ah ha!" Luther jumped up off the couch. Giggling, Chris and Lance both jumped up, just for the fun of it.

"What?" She turned away from them a little.

"You have Muslim contraband," he said.

"Yeah," Chris agreed.

"Contray-bands," Lance repeated to the best of his ability.

"What?"

Luther went over to her and tried to grab it, but she moved closer to me.

"Max, make him leave me alone."

"Luther, go-"

"No, Max," he said. "For all we know, there could be instructions to the next 9/11 on it!"

"In a twelve year old's necklace?" Fang asked, staring at him. He had just been mad that Tabitha ditched us for Adeem. This delusion was all Luther.

"They're going younger and younger, you know," Luther went on. "Like the gangs. Now Tabitha is part of a Muslim gang! Do you know what this means? She's probably plotting to kill us. Now, Tabitha, let me see the necklace and-"

"No, get away from me. Dad!"

"Luther-"

"See?" Cameron walked back in the room with Damien. "When I say one thing, I get called a racist. He freaking tries to steal a necklace from a girl because a Muslim gave it to her, but he's just crazy. Double standard much?"

Damien put his arm around her and pulled her to him. "You're not a racist, Cameron. I'm sorry."

"You better be," she mumbled as he kissed her head.

"Quick, Eric, call me a racist," Samantha said.

Bone, who was sitting on the floor next to her, looked down. "Racist."

"Now say I'm not."

"Not racist."

She cuddled against him. "Now we're even more in love! Ooh, make me a part of a Muslim gang!"

"Max, make him leave," Tabitha said, hiding behind me.

"Tabitha, I just want to take care of you," Luther said. "Don't let this little terrorist ruin your life too."

"Luther, get out," I said, opening the door. He looked out it.

"Max, it's raining. And what if the gang has put a hit out on me?"

"Then I won't have to pretend to look the other way as I let them kill you," I said. "Go."

"Fang?"

He shrugged. "You shouldn't have been so…you."

"Bone?"

He looked up from Samantha. "Racist. Not racist."

Samantha giggled. "Now you two are in love! You're still only my knight though."

"Tabitha?" Luther looked to her, his final hope. "It's cold out there."

"Adeem is not a terrorist."

"I know."

"No. You're just saying that so that I won't make you leave."

"…I love you, Tabitha. Now, what does the necklace mean? Huh?"

"It's Allah is Arabic script," she finally said.

"What?" Fang was suddenly on Luther's side. "Take it from her, Luther!"

"Stop it," I told them. Fang got up, planning to take it from her. I wasn't going to let him. "I'm serious, Fang."

"Max, I refuse to let that be in my house."

"Why?"

"Because…if your mom was here, she wouldn't like it either."

"This isn't my mother's house."

"No, it's mine."

Tabitha walked away from us and started up the stairs. "You're all crazy."

"Wait, Tabitha," Luther called after her. "I never got to give you your Ipod!"

She stopped. "Cody, go take it from him."

Cody jumped up and walked over to Luther. Sighing, Luther grabbed it off the coffee table and handed it over. Cody walked up the stairs to Tabitha.

"Now leave," she told Luther before going into her room, necklace and all.

Cameron looked at Damien. "Wanna go home?"

"Yeah," he said, smiling. "Uh, Sam? Come on. Time to go."

"Goodbye, Eric," she said, slowly getting up. "I'll keep the castle warm for you."

"No," he said. "Rain, Damien."

"It's fine," he said, not really concerned with any of us, only Cameron. "Tell everyone goodbye, Sam."

"I did."

"You didn't tell me," Neo said.

"That's because I hate you."

"Bye-bye," Chris told her, waving. Then he walked over to me. "Up?"

I sighed. Today had been a long day.

* * *

><p>"Hello?" I opened the front door. Things had calmed down now. Everyone was gone and the boys were all in their rooms. I was trying to enjoy some Kourtney and Kim take New York, but no.<p>

"Hi. Max, right?"

"Yeah," I said. "Look, you know, Tyler and Alex aren't exactly talking anymore."

Manuel just smiled. "I know."

I shrugged. "Tyler! Come here."

He ran down the stairs. "W- Don't hit me!"

Manuel frowned. "Hit you?"

"Max, don't let him hurt me."

"Shhh, Kim's on," I said, going to lay back down on the couch.

"Come on, Tyler," Manuel said. "Let's go."

"Go where?"

"Out," he said, walking away. Tyler cut his eyes at me before closing the door behind them.

* * *

><p>"Where are you taking me?"<p>

"To get something to eat," Manuel said. "I'm hungry. Go any money on you?"

"Y-"

"I was kidding," he said, smiling at Tyler. "I hate your new clothes."

Tyler looked down at himself. "Yeah. Tabitha told me that my shirt has a band name on it, but I don't know the band."

"You look like an idiot."

"Sorry."

Manny just shook his head. "And what is wrong with your hair?"

"I like it."

"I don't. Grow up some, Tyler."

He frowned. "You're not my brother, you know. You can't tell me that."

"Yes, I can," he said. "I can tell you the truth. Oh, and, think about this. This Jorge kid has been around, what? A few months? You've been around almost nine years. You win. Pretty soon, he'll be gone. Don't make yourself gone while you're at it."

Tyler frowned. "Alex said that she likes my hair."

"Alex is stupid."

"What?"

"If she wasn't, would she even consider Jorge over you?"

Tyler stared straight ahead. "Maybe I don't want to be Alex's boyfriend anymore."

"That's fine," he said. "You think that Juan really wanted to marry that woman?"

"Yeah, I thought he did."

"No. She was pregnant."

"That's no reason to get married."

Manny glanced at him. "Sure as heck it is. You ever get my sister pregnant, you had better marry her."

"…I don't…I really don't think…I don't want to get Alex pregnant."

"Good," he said. "You better not. Though, if someone had to, I would hope it was you. But you still better not. I'll kill you."

"How can I marry her when I'm dead?"

"Okay, so I won't kill you. I'll just cut off one of your arms."

"…Which one?"

"The left one."

"Why?"

"Because if you had been using the right one correctly, you wouldn't have gotten her pregnant."

Tyler frowned, looking out the window. "Today's my birthday."

"I know. Alex told me."

"She told me that you'd be home in January."

"I was. The last two days of January and tomorrow is my last day here."

"Where are you going after that?"

"I'm not deployed again," he said. "Me and a few of my friends are going down to Florida."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"…So, if while you're in Florida, you get a woman pregnant, you'd marry her? Even if you didn't know her?"

Manuel frowned. "Anyways, burgers good?"

"Yeah," Tyler sighed.

* * *

><p>Tabitha was standing in her bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror. The necklace didn't look that bad. It was kind of weird though. She was thinking about giving it back to Adeem now that its purpose had been served, when her bedroom door opened.<p>

"Tabitha?"

"In here," she said from her bathroom.

"Are you peeing?"

"No, Lance."

"Number two?"

She reached over and opened the door. "No."

He giggled. "I wanna play with you."

"No. I'm busy."

"With what?" He looked up at her. "Please?"

She sighed. "What do you want to do?"

"Play superhero with me."

"What do you want me to do?"

He grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the bathroom. "You be the bad guy. Lay down on the floor."

She laid down. "Okay."

He clambered up on the bed, bouncing once, before jumping off. He landed on Tabitha's stomach.

"Ow! Lance!"

He got off. "Super Lance wins again!"

Running away before she could get him, Lance ran up the attic stairs. "Fang?"

"Hmmm?" He was laying on the couch, eyes closed.

"Dead?"

"No."

Giggling, Lance crawled onto his chest. "Wanna play superhero with me?"

"You jump off something and land on me and I'll make you sorry."

So knock Fang off the list for superhero. Lance didn't get it. Didn't people know that the superhero had to beat up the supervillian?


	23. Chapter 23

Broken

Chapter 23

I interlaced my fingers, staring at Tyler across the table. "Are you okay?"

He didn't lift his head from the table or respond to me. I frowned.

"Tyler, you know, when people drink-"

"Shut up! You don't know that," he said, lifting his head to look at me. "You don't know that he was drunk. You don't."

I took a moment to regain my bearings before speaking again. "I'm sorry. I know that you probably are really upset about this, but-"

"You don't even know! How would you know?"

"About losing someone?" I looked at him in shock. "Are you seriously asking me this?"

Tyler got up, his chair falling to the floor. "You don't know and you'll never know. You don't know anything. You're stupid! I hate you!"

Tyler ran from the kitchen and out the front door.

"Tyler!" I jumped up, but didn't go after him.

"Let him go," Tabitha said, walking down the stairs. "What's the worst he can do? Go out and kill himself? Then we'd all be lucky."

I finally snapped. "I am so tired of you, Tabitha. You act like you have no heart. Stop it! That's your brother and he's you're family. We're your family."

She shrugged, walking into the kitchen with me. "Like he really even knows Manuel. Or knew, I guess."

I took in a deep breath. "Where would he go, anyways? He never leaves the house."

"That's unfortunate."

I sat back down. "You really are trying sometimes, you know that?"

Opening the fridge, Tabitha said, "Doesn't matter. I'm sure that Dad told you."

"Told me what?"

"That I'm gone when I'm fifteen."

This was news to me. "No, actually he didn't. Where are you going?"

"Away. Far away."

"Where though?"

"If I told you, you'd know where to find me."

"If you were really as smart as you try to make yourself seem, you would have told me a place far away from the real place. But hey, it's only you calling yourself smart."

Tabitha turned quickly to face me, now upset. "I never said that I was smart! And, plus, I don't care if you think that I am or not. I don't like you."

"Of course you don't."

"I don't," she said with conviction. "I hate you. I wish that you never came here."

"Yeah, well, I'm not leaving any time soon, so I think now's the perfect time to get over it."

"Why don't you turn around and face me?" She asked. Now she was just being a brat. I stayed where I was, facing the seat that Tyler had been in moments before.

"Maybe I don't care to," I said.

"See? You'd care if it was Tyler."

"Tabitha, maybe, for just one day, can you pretend like someone else is hurting more than you? Just this once, please?"

"Just this once? This once? I have to everyday!"

"Oh, whatever," I said. "You don't have to do anything, ever. You go around acting like we abuse you or something."

"You never pay attention to me."

"How could we not? You're always in our faces, complaining. Grow up for once, alright? Realize that some parts of life aren't all about you."

I heard her close the fridge before speaking. "What happened to Saturdays?"

"What?" Today was Saturday.

"Saturdays," she repeated. "Remember?"

"No, I-"

"You used to take me out, every Saturday, no matter if I wanted to or not. Remember?"

I wasn't getting the connection. "Yeah, so what?"

"Why'd you stop?"

I was trying really hard to remember, but I guess it wasn't important enough to me, because I couldn't for the life of me. "I guess because you found Adeem and started having a bad attitude about things."

"Oh, it was my fault," she said with a laugh. "Sure you weren't just too tired?"

I sat up a little, but said nothing.

"You know, Max, sometimes the rest of us get tired too. We don't just give up on people and go to sleep because of it, though."

Now I was done. "First off, you have no idea what the word tired means, Tabitha. Tired is staying up all night for weeks on end, hoping that your son is going to be alright. Tired is being homeless and not going to sleep because you have nowhere to sleep. Tired is the night after your baby dies." I paused, but not long enough for her to speak. "Secondly, I have never given up on you, on any of you."

"Oh, come on. You've given up on all of us. That's why you don't ever want to do anything with us. Just sleep," she said with bitterness, as if sleeping had killed her best friend or something. "You act like you can live a better life or something when you're a sleep. As if your precious Kevin is so freaking amazing."

I stood up and turned to look at her. "Don't you ever-"

"That's what you dream about, right? Him? Like he's better than us? Well, guess what? He's not. He could have grown up to be a mass murder, you know. At least we're not that. Tyler might be one day, but he's not now. Why can't you just be happy with what you got for once?" She looked me dead in the eye. "You all say I'm ungrateful, but I'm not nearly as bad as you."

I let her walk off, thinking she had won. There was no winner in this, though. This wasn't a game. What she said was uncalled for. Really.

* * *

><p>Tyler knew where he was going before he left, he just wasn't sure that he could really go.<p>

At 7 in the morning, Alex had called. Tyler, being the only one up that early, besides his father who had already left for work, sat down his pen and got up to answer it. Manuel was dead. She wanted to see him. He wasn't sure what that meant, but then he remembered what she had told him a long time ago.

It was probably when they were in first grade. Tyler was upset that his father had just yelled at him. Alex, always the one for peace, tried to talk to him about something else. She asked him what he did to get rid of it. He asked what the it was. The anger, she had told him. Where did he go? Tyler just shrugged. To his room was his response. He had no where else. She went to the park, she told him. No one noticed, really. They lived kind of close to it, so she could be back in enough time not to raise concern.

Tyler had never gone with her to the park. Really, he never knew that Alex ever got angry. Sure, there had been sometimes when she got upset, but angry? Alex and angry were like fine and alone. They did not belong together.

There were weren't that many people at the park. There never were. A few years ago, the year after Luther left, the city finished construction on the new park. That's the one that Max and Dad always took the boys to now, but this was the one that Damien had taken him to and Alex still apparently favored it.

He didn't say anything as he approached the swing set and neither did Alex. He wasn't even sure that she knew that he was there until he spoke.

"Hey."

Alex, who was sitting in one of the swings, didn't look up. "Hey."

He stood in front of her, slightly out of breath from having run. It was eerily silent in the old park and Tyler took a moment to look around. In the new park, all the trees were babies, so it was always sunny and hot. Here, though, the trees were mature and covered the area well, creating a dark shade that fell over most of the park, especially in the winter. Even in the summer sun, though, it was a dark and brooding place. Tyler almost laughed, remembering how Tabitha had called the phase they all think he's going through dark and brooding. He didn't laugh though. It wouldn't be right, considering.

"He really liked you."

Tyler looked back at Alex. "He really liked you too."

She finally found his eyes. "Why do you say such stupid…"

She had just trailed off, but it was obvious what she was going to say. Tyler didn't care though. If that were the worst thing that was said about him today, he would be a happy camper.

Alex sniffled and Tyler feared for a second that she would start crying. He couldn't deal with crying, he never could. She didn't cry though. Alex had cried herself out. There were no tears left in her body, something that one should be angry about, but Tyler was only glad. If she had to cry, he didn't want it around him. Never around him.

"I had a brother who died once."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He's names Kevin."

She looked back down. "Don't count. You didn't know him."

Tyler shrugged and it was silent again. In this situation, Tyler had to be the initiator of conversations, but he had a hard enough time being involved in them. To say the least, this was not going well and they both knew it.

"Remember when we were little?" He suddenly decided to take a different approach. "Remember Bear?"

How could she forget? Alex only nodded.

"Remember how I gave him to you? I don't remember why, but-"

"You were being mean to Lucas," Alex mumbled. "You said something about starving him to death. I got mad at you. To make it up to me, you tried to give me Sasuke. When that didn't work, you gave me Bear."

"Yeah," he said, it all coming back to him now.

"Well, what about him?" She asked after a moment.

"Huh?"

"You brought him up for a reason." Probably, at least. Tyler was known to just kind of mention things and then forget about them.

"Oh, right," he said, shaking his head slightly. He had gotten lost in the memories. "Anyways, somehow, I ended up with him again. How?"

She didn't even blink. "You moved to your new house and we wanted him to see where he would-"

"That was just for the night," Tyler said. "I gave him back."

Frowning, she asked, "What's your point?"

"It's an important part of our childhood, Alex!" He looked away. "I mean, if we can't even remember that, how do you know that we'll remember each other?"

Still frowning, she said, "You do say stupid things."

"Huh?"

"Tyler, how could I ever forget you?" She pushed her feet against the ground a little, moving only a few inches back and forth. "You're my best friend."

"Really?"

God, he was stupid. "Yes, really."

"Still?"

"What do you mean still?"

It was his turn to frown. "I mean, you're so happy now, right?"

"With what?"

"All your new friends and your boyfriend…" He looked behind him, as if anyone could possibly be there. For a second, he thought about it being Max, coming to find him after he ran off. But no, it was just his imagination. Even Max, who loved him more than anyone, hadn't came after him. Wow.

"They're nothing without you," she lied. They were nothing with him, but still. "I've tried to talk to you, but you just don't talk back. You only yell at me. Like it's my fault that I like someone. _Te loco niño__._ We've been friends since, like, forever. If you wanted to like me, you should have earlier."

"But I did!"

"It doesn't matter now," she said, looking back down.

Tyler sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. You can change your clothes and your hair, but you'll never change the way you look at things, the way you feel about life.

"I'm sorry that Manny died."

She smiled a little. Sometimes, his stupid things are just what she needs. "Me too."

"And I love you. Like really love you, even if you don't love me like that."

"I love you too," she mumbled, still looking at the ground.

"When's the funeral?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, Tyler."

"…Is Jorge gonna be there?"

She wanted to be mad at him, so much, but she couldn't. "I don't know."

Suddenly his jacket felt a bit too cold, if that was even possible. "Can I come?"

Stupid things. "Yeah, of course."

"…If this was a movie, I'd kiss you now."

She looked up at him. His hair was so weird now to her. In a good way though. "In real life, though, if you were to kiss me right now, you'd be so dead."

He looked away for a second. "Do you really think that I'm a freak?"

It was her time to look away. She saw a bird choking on a piece of bread before turning back to Tyler. "Yes."

"Oh."

"It's okay though," she said, staying where she was though she wanted to get up and hug him. "I like you as a freak. It gives you an edge."

Tyler nodded a little. "So…I guess goodbye."

That's all she had wanted to hear from him for awhile now. He had never said it to her and it was giving her closure, in a way. It was an unspoken agreement between them that when they left the park that day, they wouldn't be friends. At least that's what Alex felt, just from the way he stood and spoke. He knew it too. Maybe that's just how in sync they were, being able to know the others thoughts. Curse or blessing, it just proved their friendship, or soon to be lack there of.

Alex swallowed. "Yeah. Goodbye."

Tyler turned to walk away, to leave her behind. Goodbye…he had never said that to someone that way before. Just to Max when he left to school or Lucas as he left to room to go hang at a friend's house.

"Tyler!"

He smiled, turning back around. Here it comes. The part where she runs to him and throws her arms around his neck and they kiss, all clichéd and stuff. Really movie like.

"Yeah?"

Alex didn't move from the swing. She just stared at him, wishing that she hadn't shed all of her tears on Manuel. Maybe just saved one for Tyler, if only one. After this was all over, after Manuel was buried, she'd find some tears for Tyler, her by then ex-best friend. Yes, by then she'd surely have some and also have some strength to actually mourn Tyler, even if he wasn't dead.

"Thank you."

He just stared at her. "Oh. Yeah. You're welcome."

"…And, I did love you. Like you love me. I just don't anymore. You waited too long to love me," she said, shifting blame. "Sor-"

"But I love you back then," he said. "You just never-"

"Stop, Ty," she said, now looking back at the ground. "It's over."

Over? Oh no, this would never be over. Like his hatred of celery, this would never be over.

Instead of voicing this, he just nodded and walked off again. "See you around…Alex."

"Yeah, see you later," she said. And they would see each other later. It'd just be different then. And was that necessarily bad? Things changing? Alex sniffled as Tyler walked away with his new hair cut, shoes, and clothes. Change was a hard enough thing to handle in small quantities, but this was all just too much. How can you adjust to all of this? It was coming so fast that certain things were going to have to remain broken while she worked on others. For now, her and Tyler needed to be broke so that she could fix her and the now dead Manuel.

Tyler was slow on his walk home, trying to think of a reason to run back there, but he couldn't find one. He had told her that he loved her. That blew. He had brought up their past. That just made her smile. He had told her that he had always loved her. That did nothing. No, he and Alex just weren't meant to be. For now, anyways. One day, though, Tyler decided that he was going to force her to be with him, because, he knew, underneath all her doubt and thoughts of other guys was the same love he had for her. It just needed help breaking free.

* * *

><p><strong>March<strong>

Manuel's funeral came quickly. He was drunk, I just want you to know. Drunk and going back to his hotel while he was in Florida. It was in the papers here. We don't have a lot going on in town, just so you know.

I took Tyler, not Fang. I didn't want Fang causing him anymore stress than he already had. Tabitha went too and that was it. At the funeral, Tyler and Alex didn't even say one word to each other. When it was over, they shared a look, but still no words. It felt weird, like you were seeing a two people who once knew each other, but now couldn't even remember the other's name. It was also kind of sad in a way too. I always thought that they'd make up, but apparently not.

That was a month ago, though. Now, my focus had been forced back on the queen of theatrics herself.

"And that's my fault?" Tabitha looked at her father in disbelief.

"Yes, Tabitha," he said, frowning at her. "If I tell you to watch the boys and they get hurt, it is your fault."

"They were riding bikes! How would I have stopped it?"

I sighed. "Fang, chill out. Jason just broke his arm. Besides, he thinks it's cool."

"Still," he said. "You need to grow up some, Tabitha."

"Me?" She snorted. "Tell that to your dolls."

"They are action figures and you know it!"

"Fang, stop yelling," I said, frowning at him. "God, you act like she murdered someone."

"She let him break his arm!"

I sighed. "Fang, no she didn't. Now shut up. Khloe and Lamar are on."

"Oh, shut up," he said before stomping up the stairs and then up the stairs to the attic.

"It was not my fault," Tabitha told me. "First off, I shouldn't have to freaking watch all your stupid kids all the time."

I laid down on the couch. "You know what, Tabitha? I really don't care to hear you, at all. I agree. Don't ever watch the boys again. Better yet, don't ever talk to any of us again. You caught me, Tabitha. I secretly hate you and want you gone. That's all I've ever wanted. I'm just your evil stepmother. So now that the cat's out of the bag, could you please just get out of my face?"

She stomped up the stairs too, slamming the door behind her. She acts so shocked, I mean she was the one that was predicting it from the beginning. Now, if only I could get Fang to send her off to boarding school my dream would be complete!

"Really?"

I looked over at Lance, who was playing with toy cars with Chris. "What?"

"Really don't like Tabitha?"

"No, sweetie," I said, sighing a little. "I love her. I was just being sarcastic."

He nodded, though I could tell that he was still confused.

"I hate you, Chris," he told his younger friend.

"Huh?" Chris's eyes started to well with tears.

"Yeah! I hate you so much."

"Really?"

Lance giggled, reaching over to pull him into a hug. "No. I love you."

"No funny."

"I was being sar-cat-ic."

"Still."

Lance let him go. "Best friends forever."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Lance said. I love you."

"Love you too," Chris giggled, going back to their cars. I just rolled my eyes.

* * *

><p>"What are you doing?"<p>

Samantha didn't look up. "I am making a card for Eric. I've decided that two days from now is his birthday."

"Have you now?" She walked over to the couch and laid down.

"Yeah. He won't tell me when his real one is, so I picked."

Cameron turned on the TV. "Just pick up all the paper droppings."

"Okay," she said. "I got the paper out of Daddy's shed. Scissors too."

"Just put everything back where you found it when you're done," she said, flipping through the channels. "Where is your dad?"

"He went to work while you were sleeping," she said. "Hey, wanna take me to Eric's work so that I can-"

"No."

"Oh, fine then," she said, still cutting and gluing away. "Mom? Are you really going to put the new baby in my room? Because I don't think that's a good idea."

"There's nowhere else to put it, Samantha," she said, not really caring when her daughter thought.

"I don't want it in my room though."

"Then where, huh?"

"I think that it should go in the room that I'm not allowed to go in."

"…No."

"Please? No one uses it and-"

"Shut up, Samantha."

"But-"

"I said shut up! God, do you not know what that means?" Cameron got up and walked up the stairs. "You're a stupid little brat, you know that? Huh? Huh? I don't even like you. I hate you. I really just hate you."

Samantha felt herself start to cry, but didn't. Mommy wasn't worth it.

* * *

><p>"This is so cool," Neo said, staring at Jason's blue cast. "I wish I had broken my arm."<p>

"Yeah, I know. Jared from down the street said that he broke his leg once," Jason said.

"Too bad Tabitha got in trouble though," the older boy said. "I mean, she did tell us not to try and hop the curb if we hadn't done it before."

"Yeah, well, it's not our fault. She should have just taken the punishment," Jason said, making Neo nod his head.

"Yeah."

They walked out of their room and down the hall to James and Cody's.

"What?" Cody asked as they walked in. "We're busy."

"You're both just playing with action figures."

"Who are you to judge?" Cody frowned at them. "Get out."

"No, wait a second," James said. "Tell us what you guys want."

"We need to know what you write on a cast," Jason said. "Your name or something funny? What?"

"Anything you want," Cody said with a shrug.

"I want one," Neo said. "Here, James, break my arm."

"No, I'm good," he said, making Goku knock Nappa down. Cody frowned, making Vegeta drop kick teen Gohan.

"You guys aren't even paying attention to us," Neo said. "Come on, Jason. Maybe Fang'll play with us."

"That's doubtful," James said, throwing a Dragon Ball at Cody when he threw Bulma across the room.

* * *

><p>When Damien got home, it was around midnight. Samantha was already in bed, but for some reason, Peter wasn't.<p>

"What are you doing down here, Pete?" He picked the cat up off the kitchen counter. "Where's Cammie?"

He walked up the stairs and was pleasantly surprised to find the light in Tommy's old room on. Expecting the worse, Damien held onto his cat, just incase he might need back up.

"Hey, Cam," he said, walking to the doorway of the dead boy's room. "What are you doing?"

Cameron looked up from the floor. She was going through the boxes that were in there again, a trash bag next to her. "I'm throwing some stuff away."

He looked around. She already had five trash bags full. It was amazing. "Is, uh, Sam in bed?"

"I don't know," she said truthfully. "We fought and I just ignored her the rest of the night."

You can't just do that to your six year old, that much Damien knew. Still, he said nothing, knowing that Samantha would have waited up for him if Cameron was really abusing her. She must have found something to eat and gone to bed early.

"So what made you come in here?"

"…It's just a bigger room than Sam's, you know."

"I know."

"And she will be the oldest," Cameron went on quickly, as if also trying to reason with herself.

"Yep, the oldest."

"And she deserves her own room, so I just decided that maybe I should move her in here, you know."

No, he didn't know. Since Cameron had said she was pregnant, it was decided that the baby was going to room with its big sister. Everyone knew that…right?

"What made you decide this?"

Cameron ignored him.

"Was it your fight with Samantha?"

"No."

"Then what did you fight about?"

"Screw you!" Cameron jumped up, throwing a Doraemon manga to the ground. "Forget this then. Let the little bastards share a room. I try to do something nice for that little brat and you just…God I hate you!"

She tried to storm out of the room, but Damien dropped Peter, who was not happy with that, and grabbed her, holding her in place.

"Cammie, stop."

"I try, really try for once, and you just act like a jerk!"

"I know," he whispered, though he really didn't. "I'm sorry."

She leaned against him. "I just thought…Samantha was so...it's not fair."

"No, it's not," he agreed, not sure if they were speaking about Samantha's relationship with her mom, or Tommy, or if it even mattered. He just held her to him, running a hand up and down her arm.

"I'm not a bitch, Damien," she said, sniffling. "I'm really not. I do good things for you and Sam."

"Yeah."

"And I might not always show it, but I do care about you guys."

"I know."

"And…and…I don't know."

He kissed her head as Peter stormed from the bedroom, tail twitching. Well then.

Cameron pushed Damien away. "Go to bed. I'll be there soon."

"Alright," he said, walking from the room, but stopping by Samantha's first. She was up. He smiled at her, going over to her bed. "Hey, baby."

"Hi," she said, staring up at him. "Is she making me leave?"

"What?"

Samantha nodded. "Mom said that she hated me and then she went into the room that I'm not allowed in. Is she trying to get rid of me?"

"Of course not," Damien said, getting on his knees next to her.

"Are you sure?"

He sighed. "Sam, if she ever did try to get rid of you, I'd make her leave."

"Mom says it's her house."

"Fine, then me, you, and Peter would leave her here," he said, smiling at her. "I love your mom, but not as much as you. You know that."

She finally smiled at him. "Wanna come to Eric's birthday party?"

He frowned. "When is it?"

"Friday after school," she said. "I wanted Mom to take me to his work to tell him, but she said no."

"I'll tell him," Damien said, kissing her head. "Now go to sleep, Sam. You have school in the morning."

She giggled. "Goodnight, Daddy."

"Night," he said before going off to bed. Not before saying his prayers, of course. He had just finished them when Cameron came into the room.

Not saying anything to him, she went into the bathroom. When she came out, she still ignored him as she got into her side of the bed, pulling Peter to her. The cat, who was still clearly mad at Damien, cuddled against her, purring as she rubbed his back.

"Night, Cameron," Damien whispered after ten minutes of silence.

"Night," she said, kissing the cat's head.

"I love you," he said, holding his breath.

"…I love you too."

Damien smiled. Even though his back was to her, he knew that she was trying not to smile and that just made his so much brighter.

* * *

><p><strong>June<strong>

It was the first day of summer and things were not looking up for Tyler. Last summer, he had Alex at least. This summer, it was him, all alone. True, school was horrible because of the human contact, but it was also great for that same reason.

"I'm gone," Lucas told him as he slipped on his Jordan's. Max bought them for him yesterday after school, which he was not exactly pleased with. It was so hard to show them off if he wasn't at school. That's why he was going to Jackson's birthday party today, even though he didn't really like Jackson. "Sure you don't wanna come?"

"Why would I go to a 4th grader's birthday party, Lucas?" Tyler turned his head just to glare at him. Sure, his life was low, but not that low.

Lucas's face turned dark. "We are going into 5th grade next year, thank you! And I was just trying to be nice, but never mind."

After Lucas slammed the door, all was silent. Tyler laid there on his stomach for awhile, trying to think of what there was to do. Most boys that had to share a room would rejoice when the other left, but he wasn't. At least with Lucas there was something to do. Argue. Now though, it was just him and his thoughts.

There was one thing that Tyler could do, but it was too risky. Max liked to pop in at random times and that would be horrible if she walked in on that. He could lock his door, but if she tried it and found that it was locked, she'd probably think that he hung himself, which was Tabitha's resolution to all of his problems.

He heard Lance and Chris run down the hall, stopping at his door, deciding to have a conversation.

"Should we?" Lance asked, clearly talking to his best friend.

"No," Chris said. "Tyler no 'ike us."

That wasn't true. It wasn't.

"Yeah," Lance agreed. "He hates us."

That so wasn't true! It's not like he enjoyed them all the time, or any time, but he didn't dislike them, much less hate them. Why didn't people get that? The word hate should have lost so much meaning by now if it was coming from his mouth. It was like fuck coming from Max. It was just a reflex word, don't get so touchy.

"Yep," Chris said. "Hates us."

"Let's go find Max. She'll play with us," Lance said. Tyler heard them run away, off to find the only person that wouldn't yell at them for being intolerably annoying.

Tyler stretched before standing up. He went over to his closet and pulled on a shirt. Max said that it wasn't good for him to walk around shirtless. Fang was bad enough. Slowly and as quietly as possible, he exited his room.

"Hi, Tyler!"

Dang it. He turned his head and saw Neo standing behind the attic staircase, which was pulled down. He had been facing the wall, but turned when he heard Tyler come out of his room finally.

"What are you doing over there?"

Neo just smiled. "I'm in timeout."

"Why?"

"Me and Jason accidentally might of, kind of…we stole Max's phone and called someone."

"Who?" Tyler asked, though he really needed to get to the bathroom. He had to pee super bad.

"Jeb," Neo said, giggling.

"Why?"

"I don't know," he said, shrugging. "He's Jason's grandpa, huh? We said hi. He said hi. He wanted Lucas, but then Max found us."

"Yeah, and now you're in trouble so shut up," Fang called from up in the attic. "Face the corner."

Neo just giggled, turning back around. Tyler shook his head. If it had been him when he was a kid, Fang would have spanked him. Kids had it too easy nowadays.

After he relieved himself, Tyler ventured downstairs. Chris and Lance were nowhere to be found, but Jason, who was probably supposed to be facing some corner, was sitting on the ground, staring at the TV. Max, who had more than likely been assigned to watch him, was passed out on the couch.

"What are you watching?" Tyler asked his younger half brother.

"I don't know," he said. "It's called Monster's Ball, but I haven't seen any monsters."

Tyler frowned as Halle Berry started taking off things that Jason definitely didn't need to see anytime soon.

"Just don't let Max find you watching it," he warned, walking away before his enjoyment of the movie showed a little too much.

He went into the kitchen, where Tabitha was at the table with Adeem, where they were watching some video on the laptop. Not caring to see what it was, Tyler went over fridge and pulled out the carton of eggs.

"You're not allowed to use the stove without Max in here," Tabitha told him, not even looking away from the laptop.

"You do," Tyler accused.

"I'm allowed to," she said, rolling her eyes at Adeem, who just shrugged. "They know that I'm more mature than you."

"Yeah, okay," he said, grabbing the pan from the drying rack. "Ever think that it's because they hope that you'll burn down the house and kill yourself?"

"No, actually I haven't. I'm sure you've thought about that for yourself though, suicide boy."

"You're the one always bringing it up," he said. "Watch it, Adeem. She might try to kill herself and take you with her. Oh, wait, I forgot, you don't want to take him anywhere, right? Fifteen, huh?"

Tabitha jumped up, but Adeem stood too. Saying nothing, he grabbed her hand and dragged her out to the garage. After Tyler had made his eggs, he sat down at the table. Pulling the laptop towards him, he saw that there were two tabs opened. Closing the youtube video, he saw that the other was Tabitha's facebook. He knew the right thing to do would be to close it, but he wasn't a good person. No one in his family was.

Glancing at the garage door, Tyler thought for a second before deciding that they'd be out there for awhile. As Tabitha had Alex added as a friend, it was easy to get to her profile. Tyler didn't have a facebook. It would just be another remind that his ship of friends was a party of one. Or none now. Though, he figured maybe it was still one. He had himself now, right? Could you be your own friend? He wasn't sure.

Sighing, he went through Alex's pictures. Tabitha wasn't much of a picture taker and had few on her account, but Alex had a lot. She liked taking pictures. Tyler liked watching her take pictures. Hell, Tyler liked anything about her.

From the looks of it, her and Jorge were getting along just fine. Tyler frowned, noticing that Jorge was taking his place in not only her life, but her photos too. Where as he used to be the main one that she took pictures of, now Jorge was. It wasn't fair, but Tyler was trying to learn to accept it.

Tyler was about to log off and go find something else to do when he got to a picture that made him stop. A few weeks ago, Tabitha was complaining about this thing that everyone at their school was doing where they posted a picture from when they were little kids. Tabitha's was just of the first Christmas at the new house, but Tyler wasn't in it. Of course not. She hated for people to realize that they were siblings, so she kept him out of her few photos that she had.

Alex's was of when they were around four. Tabitha was in it too and so was Lucas. Tabitha was telling them all some story and had a very excited look on her face. Lucas was chewing on that old Sasuke plush that he loved. Alex was sitting in front of Tabitha, looking very interested in what she was saying, though her eyes, which were looking at Tyler, gave her away. He was seated a little ways away from all of them, playing with Bear and Wa-wa.

Tyler smiled, staring at the picture. It was from when they lived at the house across the street from Cameron, probably before Damien even had started dating her. It was funny to think about now, that once upon a time, Tabitha liked some boy named Tommy, who hated Tyler and Alex, but loved his aunt, who had a thing for their dad, but was now his stepmother's best friend.

It made his head hurt to think about things from back then, though it was nice in a weird way. He loved to think about how much time Max gave him when she was afraid that he was going to die and how much nicer his dad was back then. It was also frightening though to think about, in the long run, that wasn't that long ago and yet so much had changed. Tommy was dead, a bunch of more kids had been added to the group, Victoria had come and gone, Luther was no longer Tabitha favorite person, Tammie was gone, and, most importantly, Tyler would never see Manuel again. In this life, at least. Though Dan told him that Catholics were going to Hell, he was still holding out hope for his fallen friend. Maybe, just maybe, they might make a mistake on Manuel's record and write down Baptist on accident. Maybe.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Tyler said, exiting out of the internet browser, but not before Fang saw the picture.

Shaking his head, Fang went over to the sink, where Tyler had put the pan. Of course he didn't wash it. No, that would require work. Fang thought about yelling at him for it, but decided against it. Sighing, he went ahead and washed it for his son.

"You know, Tyler, everyone needs a break sometimes," Fang said. Tyler frowned, trying to connect this to something.

"Okay."

"And after awhile, you do miss people."

"Oh."

"And you want them back in your life."

Fang's Alex advice was too coded for Tyler and it just went over his head. Trying to think of a way to escape his father's strange rant, Tyler said, "Adeem and Tabitha are out in the garage alone."

"What?" Fang stopped what he was doing and went out there. Tyler jumped up and quickly put his plate in the sink before leaving.

Max was now gone from the living room, along with Jason, but Chris and Lance were there. They were playing with blocks.

"Hi, Tyler," Chris called, giggling as he knocked over Lance's building.

"Hi," he said.

"Bye," Lance called after him as he started up the stairs. When Tyler got up them, he noticed that Neo too was gone from the end of the hallway. Cody and James, though, were now in the hall, playing with toy cars. One would push one as hard as they could, watching it race down the carpeted area. Then the other would do the same and they would see who got further. Being in an alright mood for once, Tyler waited for them each to go, before cutting across their raceway to get back to his bedroom, back to where the whole ordeal started.

Sighing, Tyler pulled off his shirt, staying in his jeans, and got on his bed. Now that he had been gone for awhile, the sheet was cool on his skin. He had gotten rid of the comforter a long time ago. He only needed his Spiderman blanket from when he was a kid, Tigger pillow from when he was a really little kid, and his Scooby Doo sheets to sleep on. That way, he didn't have to make his bed, only lay the blanket somewhat neatly over the bed before he left for school in the morning.

After a few minutes of laying there, Tyler reached over to the dresser that sat between his and Lucas's bed and grabbed a book off the top. Now, Tyler wasn't much of a for fun reader, but he had long been obsessed with one book.

"How are we doing today, Ralph?" He mumbled under his breath, opening the book with a broken spine. He had read Lord of the Flies near twenty times, but couldn't get enough of it. Most of his teachers tried to say that he had a low reading level, but that was just what he wanted them to think. You let people know what a genius you are, they start expecting you to, dare he say it, pay attention in class. No, if you made them think that you were dumb, they'd feel too bad to fail you and let you make up work fifty times before just giving you a hundred. Yes, Tyler had found the perfect way to keep from failing, but not going to summer school, and he wasn't sharing it with anyone.

Lord of the Flies was something that he knew would be required reading at some point in high school, probably freshman year, but he didn't care. He found it when he was in 3rd grade and had fallen in love with it. It was just sitting there at Anime Any Day in the storage room, seeming out of place among the Japanese comics. Tyler later found out that it was Luther's. He had left it there one day when he was in the back, hiding from Max, and was trying to boost his intellect. He was asking everyone if they had seen it, because it belonged to his mother before she died, and he wanted it back. Tyler never came foreword as the culprit, though. He had decided that if Luther's mother was really as into books as Luther made it seem, she would not want her son having it. So he kept it.

The first time he read it, the vocabulary was too much for him and he didn't understand it. Much like Jason and Monster's Ball, he was left wondering who the monster was. Then, right after Luther left, he read it again. Still, he didn't understand it. In 5th grade though, he read it once more and, when he came to a word that he didn't understand, actually looked it up in the dictionary. After a few more times of reading it, he finally got it.

When he actually began to grasp the point of the book, he fell in love with one character. Simon. Possibly the smartest among them, but also later the craziest. Tyler read the part where he talked the pig head over and over again, trying to memorize it word for word.

"_There isn't anyone to help you. Only me. And I'm the Beast. . . . Fancy thinking the Beast was __something you could hunt and kill," _Tyler mumbled out loud, reading his favorite part slowly.

It was only ironic that Tyler would be attracted to such a character as Simon. Tabitha would say it was because Simon died and Tyler wants to die, but she would not read the book for years to come, so her future assumptions carried no weight here. In Tyler's mind, the reason he liked Simon was simple. There were few good characters to choose from. Piggy, though wise, could get annoying at times. Ralph was a backstabber and just wanted to impress everyone. Jack was a control freak that no one really liked, only feared. Samneric were too alike and, in away, just as annoying as Piggy.

No, Tyler would stick with Simon. Not because he wanted to kill himself or felt like an outcast too, but because he was just such an interesting character. That's all. Yep, nothing more to it than that.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the minor Lord of the Flies spoiler in there, but, if you haven't read the book yet, you probably don't care about it, even though it is an amazing book. <strong>


	24. Chapter 24

Broken

Chapter 24

**July**

Mid summer and we're all in Hell. Even Dan would have to admit that.

"Okay, boys," Fang said walking through the front door. "Sam's here."

"We don't like Sam," Neo said, staring blankly at the TV.

"My name is not Sam now," the blonde said.

"Great," Jason mumbled, reaching over to grab some popcorn out of the bowl that sat between him and Neo.

They were lying on their stomachs on the floor, watching Dragon Ball Z Kai. I didn't understand the difference between Kai and just regular Dragon Ball Z, but I was afraid to ask Fang. He might go into some long, detailed explanation and I don't think that I can take that.

"Don't you want to know my new name?"

"Nope," Neo said, still not looking at her.

"Be nice," I told them, frowning at the back of their heads. "What is it, Sam?"

"Nicki," she said.

"Why?" I asked as Fang started up the stairs. We weren't talking today. I'm not sure why though. That didn't mean that I couldn't participate in the hate fest though.

"My middle name's Nicole, right? Nicki," she said, walking over to the chair and sitting down. "I've already told Eric. He just smiled at me."

"That's good," I said, closing my eyes. We were watching Sam for the next week. Cameron had the baby a little bit early, but things were okay. They had kept the baby in NICU for an extra day, but today it went home. We offered to take Sam for a little while, because Trinity and Dan left town this morning for Trinity's family reunion. Samantha was going to go, but she suddenly decided that she didn't want to. James and Cody went though, so they were out of the my hair for a week.

"Hi, Lucas," she said as he walked down the stairs. He frowned at her.

"What are you doing here?"

"She's staying with us for awhile," I told him. Now that Samantha had her Eric, she didn't need Lucas, necessarily, but she still did have a minor crush on him.

"Great," he muttered, walking to the front door. "I'm going over to a friend's house."

"Who?"

"Tim," he said, closing the door behind him. I thought for a second.

"Who's Tim?"

Jason shrugged, still watching the show. Samantha, or Nicki, knew though.

"He's really, really mean," she told me. "One time, before I got engaged, I was walking behind him and he yelled at me to stop stocking him!"

"Where you?"

"No, I was just following him."

I frowned, but decided not to say anything on that. "So why did you decide to change your name?"

"So that I got the same name of my favoritest person in the world."

"Bone?"

"Well, not including him and dad."

I won't even mention that means that Cameron is included. "Who?'

"Nicki Minaj."

I bet Cameron just loves that. And if Dan knew who it was, he'd probably have an issue too.

"Well, I like the name Samantha still," I told her.

"Why?"

"It's so pretty," I told her.

"Still."

Neo groaned. "Could you not shut up?"

"Hey," I said, frowning at him.

"Not you, Max. Her," he said, turning his head a little to glare at her. "No one cares about your stupid name, Samantha."

"It's Nicki!"

"It should be fart face."

"Neo!" I was going to yell at him, but there was a knock at the door. Perfect. "As your punishment, go answer that for me."

He jumped up and did so without complaint, mainly because Fang was home and he didn't want me to call him down here.

"Ooh," I heard a voice that I would always recognize say. "Don't you just have the perfect little haircut!"

"Carlos!" I jumped up, rushing over to him. Neo shrugged and went to lay back in front of the TV. We hugged for a minute before I let him go. "What are you doing here?"

"You never answered my call."

I frowned. "The last time you called me was…like back in December."

"January," he said. "And you didn't answer."

"You know, if I had been dead, you would have waited a pretty long time to check up on me."

"I knew you weren't dead," he said, walking in.

"How?"

"You're too big of a bitch to be dead."

"Carlos," I said, frowning. "You can't curse in front of the kids."

"Since when?"

"Well, we're trying harder with these ones."

He frowned. "Who are these kids?"

"This one's my son Jason, the other is Gazzy's son Neo, and Samantha is one of Fang's friend's daughter."

"A girl? Did you ever have a girl?"

"Nope," I said, closing the front door. "Only Tabitha."

"Right, the bratty one."

"Are you gay?" Jason looked up at Carlos as his show went to commercial. "You're the guy that Daddy says is a girl, right?"

"He says what?" I frowned at Jason. Carlos rolled his eyes.

"Still with your deadbeat?" He asked.

"Shut up," I said, frowning at him. "I haven't seen you in forever and you say that?"

* * *

><p>"I just don't get why Samantha had to go away," Damien mumbled. First day back from the hospital and he was happy, but he was also kind of sad that Sam couldn't be with him.<p>

"Shut up," Cameron told him, frowning. It was finally quiet and she did not want him to wake up the baby.

Damien frowned at her before walking out of their bedroom. He went downstairs, pulling out his cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Fang, can you give Sam the phone?"

"What? Damien?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Why are you whispering?"

"So Cameron doesn't hear me," he told him. "Please? I haven't talked to her since she went to my mom's yesterday."

Fang groaned. Damien waited patiently, eyeballing the staircase the whole time.

"Hi, Daddy!"

"Hey, Sam-"

"It's Nicki."

"…Right. Anyways, are you having fun?"

"Yep!" Samantha, now Nicki, said. "I met Max's gay friend."

"What? You need to come home," he said.

Damien wasn't a homophobe, of course not, but he didn't like the idea of Samantha being influenced like that. As forced into his head by his father, born this way was just an excuse for people that didn't want to except their faults and he didn't want her to think that it was okay to be gay, something bad people had thought up over the years. This was a confrontation between Tammie and her stepfather many times, making Damien thankful for her absence. He loved his big sister, but sometimes it's just easier for a person you love to be gone.

"I don't wanna," she said. "Is Mom there?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Sure she's there?"

"Yes, Samantha."

"Nicki, Dad!"

"Okay, okay," he said as the baby started crying from upstairs. With Samantha, Cameron was rare to go get the baby and he figured this would be the same with the new baby. "I need to-"

"Is that new baby there too?"

Damien frowned. "Yes."

"Hmmm…in my room?"

"Your old room."

"…Can the new baby go back now?"

"Sam! You haven't even met her yet," Damien said as he heard Cameron go to get the baby. He'd be in trouble later.

"It is Nicki, Dad," she said, clearly agitated. "And I don't want to meet her. She is mean."

"How do you know that?"

"All girls are mean." Duh. "Even ugly ones."

"The baby is not ugly."

"Well, I don't know that," Samantha said. "You always assume the worst about people. That's what Mom says."

"About the baby?"

"No," Samantha said, rolling her eyes the way Mom did. "About your family. She said that if I went to the reunion, that's how I should take things."

He frowned as Cameron came down the stairs, baby less. "Why didn't you go, anyways?"

"'cause I wanted to see Eric tomorrow. He's going out of town, you know."

No, he didn't know. "Is he?"

"Who are you talking to?" Cameron asked, frowning at him as she laid down on the couch. This whole baby thing were turning out to suck. She thought that maybe, just maybe she'd love this one. Nope. Same feeling as she had for her first daughter, just a little less hate.

"He's gonna go away for a few days he said," Samantha told her dad. "It's okay though. He'll be back. He promised me."

Damien frowned. Luther killed Tabitha with this kind of shit. And why was Bone leaving anyways? He didn't have tickets to Comic Con, Damien knew that. He would be extremely jealous then and Bone would have taken out time to rub it in all his friends faces.

"Did he?"

"Yep," she said. "He'll be here soon. Max said that he would."

"That's good."

"Yeah," Damien said as Cameron turned on the TV. "I'm going to go now, Sam."

"Nicki!"

"Nicki," he corrected, sighing as he hung up. "Cameron, Samantha changed her name."

She ignored that. "You need to give the cat water."

She was so loving…

* * *

><p>Lance had never warmed up to his father that he didn't know was his father. He was, however, very interested in Carlos.<p>

"So do you kiss boys?" He asked. "Not kiss 'em like Max kisses me, but like Tabitha kisses Adeem? Nasty kiss?"

Nasty kiss…hehe…

"Leave him alone, Lance," I told the little boy. "Go play with Bone."

"No," he said, frowning.

At the moment, Bone was sitting on the floor, letting Samantha try different hats on him. She had gotten them from the boys and Fang. Neo and Jason were sitting there, questioning him about him on things.

"So, Iron Man, if you had to pick a place to pee, would you choose a tree or a trashcan?"

What?

Bone stared at Jason. "Tall?"

"The trashcan is one that you'd have in your room."

"Trashcan," he said as Samantha put a top hat on his head.

"Would you rather have an X-Box or Playstation?"

"Which?"

"PS2, original X-Box."

"PS2."

Chris didn't like being left out. "Be friends with them or me and Lance?"

"Max."

"No part of que'tion!"

"Leave him alone, Chris," I said. He and Lance were really annoying today.

"How do you make babies?" Lance asked Carlos.

"Lance!"

He frowned. "Only boys and girls can make babies."

"Trust me, I do not want any children," Carlos said, shaking his head. "If I ever did, though, you clearly have some to spear, Max."

Neo turned, finally seeing a point to hurt Chris. "Yeah, Chris. Bet she'd just give you right up."

"No!"

"Yep. They always take the younger ones."

Bone nodded. "Yep."

"Bone!"

He just blinked. "Truth."

Chris started crying as he ran over to me and crawled into my lap. "No! No, no, no."

"Shhh," I said, glaring at Bone. "He wasn't serious."

Samantha sighed. "Eric? Are you sure that you want to go?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"If you're sure…"

"Leave?" I looked at him. "Where are you going?"

He just smiled at me. Hmmm…

* * *

><p>Naomi took a deep breath. This was not going to go well.<p>

"Hey," Luther said, opening the store door. "I-"

"Luther, we need to talk," she said as he walked over to the counter.

"What?" He asked, frowning.

"Well…I think that you should be fired," she said.

"What? Me?" He looked around before leaning close to her. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we're dating!"

"I know, I know," she said, moving back from him a little and grabbing a clipboard. "And it's not only you that needs to be fired. Max too. I'm a little afraid of her, though, and-"

"Why are you trying to fire us?" He asked. This had to be ea joke…right?

"It's just…neither of you seem to work very well…or at all."

"What? We work plenty."

"Fang comes in for Max most of the time and you just don't show up. Not to mention you just drink in the back and she sleeps the whole time," she explained. "If you want what's better for the store, you should probably go ahead and quit…and take Max with you."

"Naomi," he sighed, taking her face in his hands. "I love you, but…you're stupid."

"What?"

"I don't want what's best for the store," he said, laughing a little. "I just want a job. Half the time, it's not even paying my bills. My dad is. Plus, Max is a bitch."

"Luther!"

"Hey, it's true. I'll admit it, you'd admit it with a few drinks, Fang any day, heck, even Max would," he said, smiling at her. "If you want her gone, you do it. I'm not going to take the risk of being murdered."

She sighed as he kissed her head and took a step back. "Where are you going?"

"To drink in the back," he said, walking off. "Later."

* * *

><p>"So where are you going?"<p>

Bone kept messing with Adeem's guitar. He was restringing it for him.

"Bone, answer me."

He looked up. "Hmm?"

"Where are you going?"

"Road trip."

"To where?"

He shrugged.

"With that stupid bike you have?"

"Love it."

"Don't you love me though?"

"Coming back."

"Still," I said, looking away. We were in the garage, just the two of us. Carlos got a date and left, so I left Sam in charge of the boys before coming out here with Bone. "I don't like you being gone."

He hopped up, setting the guitar down. "Love."

"I love you too," I mumbled as he hugged me. "Bone?"

"Hmmm?"

"Bring protection with you. I can't deal with another Lance."

He smiled at me. "Good boy?"

"He's great," I told him. "I love him. And so does Fang."

"Never."

"What?"

"I'm never going to take him away from you guys."

I smiled, letting him go. "Thank you."

He nodded before sitting back down. "Back."

"I know you will," I told him. "Just…be careful. I don't want to bury another one of my friends."

He just nodded, not looking up at me. "Okay."

* * *

><p>"No, Eric," Samantha whined. "Stay."<p>

"No," he said, letting her hug him. "Go."

"Samantha, let him go!" Neo yelled. "Iron Man has a duty to protect-"

Jason laughed. "Neo said duty."

"Did not!"

I groaned. "Bye, Bone."

He moved to hug me, but Samantha wouldn't let him go. "Sam."

"Nicki."

He sighed. "Back."

"I don't want you to be back because I don't ever want you to go," she said. "Please stay."

Bone was technically leaving tomorrow, but it would be early in the morning. This was the last time she'd see him.

"I love you, Eric," she whined. "I'll miss you."

"Go now," he said, gently pushing her off. He gave me a hug and a kiss before leaving.

"That's so cool," I heard Adeem say to Tabitha as they walked off, him with his newly strung guitar.

"What is?"

"How he can just leave like that."

"You better not just leave like that."

"How would you know if I did? I'll be all the way in Japan, remember?"

"Yeah, because there they can't speak English so they won't know that your band sucks."

"Band is about the music, not the lyrics."

"Lyrics and music go together, dummy. That's why no one, but old people like classical music. Except James."

I rolled my eyes, going to lay back down. Fang came downstairs around then.

"Hey," he said, going over to me. "I'm going to a tournament today, alright?"

"No," I said, just to make him mad. It worked.

"Yes, I am, Max," he said, frowning at me.

"Then what was the point of putting it in a question form?" I shook my head. "It makes no sense."

"You're such a-"

"I'm ready to go home," Samantha cut him off. "Now."

"Sweetie, we told your parents that-"

"Dad said that he wanted me home anyways," she said. "That he wants to see me. Please, Fang? Please?"

He sighed, going to grab her duffle bag off the ground. "Fine. Come on."

I though about arguing, but that to Hell with it. Cameron had two kids. She could deal.

* * *

><p>Damien had talked to his daughter multiple times about what it would be like to have another kid in the house. He had a little trouble though, as he was the younger one himself. And Cameron was no help. Not only was she the youngest, but she claimed that she hated all her family. So, no, it was not easy to explain.<p>

Needless to say, he was not prepared for her when Fang dropped her off. He was up in the nursery, changing the baby's diaper, when the doorbell rang.

"Cameron, can you get that?" She was on the couch downstairs, after all.

"I am napping, Damien."

Yeah, whatever. Quick as possible, he changed the baby before taking her with him down the stairs.

"Hi, Daddy!" Samantha yelled, making the baby begin to cry again. Damien groaned, rocking her a little. She calmed quickly.

"Sam, what are you-"

"Nicki," she said, walking into the house. "My name is Nicki."

Damien looked past her. Fang was already driving away. Damn him…

"Did you know that, Mom?" Samantha pushed her dad away, trying to ignore the fact that the new baby was in his arms. "I got a new name."

"Good," Cameron said, laying there, eyes closed.

"Good?"

"Yes, good," she said. "I didn't want you to have that name anyways."

"Cameron," Damien warned as the baby began to cry again.

"What? She's old enough to know, Damien."

"Know what?" Samantha asked. Damien was also interested. There were many things Cameron could be talking about and, to him, she would never be old enough to know them.

"That I don't like you," she said, now sitting up. "I've never liked you. I hate you."

What? Samantha frowned. "You always say that."

"And yet you still bother me! I don't give a damn about what your name is, kid. I hate you," she said, now getting up. For a second she seemed to pause and think about taking the new baby with her. Then she just grabbed Peter off the floor and started up the stairs.

Samantha frowned, watching her go. "Mom's just saying that, huh, Daddy?"

He gave the new baby a kiss as she finally stopped crying. With baby Samantha, she would cry for long periods of time and then just sleep. So far, her sister would cry in short intervals and sleep in short intervals. This was not going so great.

"Of course," Damien said, though he had long doubted Cameron's love for anyone, but herself and the dead.

"I figured," Samantha said, smiling at him before running upstairs. Damien sighed, sitting down on the couch and staring at his baby.

"I love you," he whispered to her as she just stared back at him. "And, it's alright if your mom doesn't. I do enough for the both of us. Just like with your sister."

* * *

><p>A few days later had Tabitha and Adeem just as tired as summer as the rest of them. Right now, it was around eleven at night and she was still stuck over at his house. His parents were out of town and one of his brothers was staying with him for the week, so he didn't care that much.<p>

"Did you text your dad again?" Adeem asked as they laid in the grass of the backyard, his dog Shark Bait, or Sasha if you asked Tabitha, laid in between them.

"Yeah," she sighed, staring up at the sky. There was no moon tonight and it was really dark.

"Do you think that guy will be back? Bone?"

"Yeah, he said he would be," she said.

"Still. Maybe he was lying."

"No," she said slowly. "They always come back. They just don't stay long."

He frowned. "Hey, do you ever think about talking to your mom?"

"…I wouldn't know where to talk to her even if I did think about, which I don't," she said. "Why?"

"I was just thinking about how much you hate your dad and your stepmom, so why don't you try living with her?"

Tabitha scowled at him in the dark. "I don't hate them that much. And at least they didn't leave me without saying goodbye. I hate that."

"Like Luther?"

"Exactly like Luther."

"I'd never do that to you," he told her, smiling though she couldn't see it. "I'd tell you straight up that I don't like being with you if I wanted to leave."

"Thanks," she said, not sure if that was a good thing or not.

"You're welcome. And, anyways, I wouldn't want you to go live with your mom. Then you'd leave."

She was leaving anyways. "Do you ever think of…like…not coming home one day?"

"Everyone has to do that eventually."

"I know, but I mean without graduating first."

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me either way, if I graduate or not."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he said. "I mean, look at all the people who went to college, got a degree, spent tons of money on getting it, and now have no job. I'd rather be without the debt and just jobless."

"So you're not going to college?"

"Fuck no," he said, now looking above him again. "You know what I think?"

"What?"

"That college is just another one that the government is pulling over us. How many people that go to college are truly smarter than those who don't? Very few. And sure, get a good job and make good money, but that doesn't make you happy."

Shark Bait jumped up and ran around the yard. They ignored her.

"Maybe you should text your dad again," Adeem suggested after a few minutes of silence.

"No," she said. "I'm tired of him. He's probably out at some stupid comic shop."

"When did he say he'd pick you up?"

"At nine," she said. "I've called and stuff and he won't answer. God, I hate him."

Shark Bait finally just went pee before coming back over to them and laying back down. Adeem reached over and petted his dog.

"So when are we going to do it?"

"Do what?" Tabitha asked, now lost in thoughts of the hatred for her dad she held so dear.

"You know, get out of here."

"What do you mean?"

He frowned at her. "You said that you wanted to leave, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then it would only make sense that we'd go together."

She closed her eyes. "I don't want to take you."

"Oh."

"It's not like-"

"What made you think I wanted to go with you?" He asked, now trying to cover his own obvious hurt. "Maybe I was just asking to make sure that you didn't think I was going."

Because that made sense. "…You'll have a band by the time I leave, so you'd rather do that than be with me, right?"

"Of course," he said as Shark Bait licked his face. "I mean, it's not like we're serious or something."

"Nope," she agreed, popping the p. "Platonic, almost."

"…What's platonic?"

She sighed. "Never mind."

He laid on his back again. "Plus, you'll be all the way in Maine and I'll be in Japan."

"Yeah."

"We'll just be practicing for when that happens."

"Yep."

"And it's not like you won't call me."

"Y- Wait, it will be exactly like that."

"Really?" He frowned at her. "What about visit?"

"No, Adeem."

"…Then will we even be together?"

"Why do you care?" She opened her eyes again, looking into the dark night. "It's not like anyone ever stays together forever. And even if they do, they're miserable."

He stood up. "Come on."

"Wait, you did know that I-"

"Come on," he said, walking off, his dog following him. "I'm hungry."

"Are you mad at me?"

"Why do you care?" He turned around to yell at her. "You're just a stupid bitch anyways!"

"Why am I a bitch?" She jumped up, no longer caring for his feelings, only wanting to hurt him for hurting her. "Because I said the thing that everyone knows? Honestly, Adeem, I thought that you were more mature than this."

"That's not mature, Tabitha," he said, frowning at her. "That's trying to be something that you're not."

"What am I trying to be?"

"Cold," he said, frowning at her. "Cool and cold are too different things and you're crossing over."

She just stared at him. "I am not cold."

"No, but you try to be that way," he said. "You're nothing but a liar."

"A bitch and a liar? Wow, I'm the whole package. Besides, how am I lying?"

"You said that you loved me."

Now who was lying? "I never told you that."

"Yeah, but you acted like you did!" He was so…angry at her right now. How could he let himself be played like that? "I meant it when I said that."

"Meant what?"

"That I loved you," he said, frowning at the darkness, but meaning for it to be at her.

"Adeem..." He was acting like it was her fault that he was so…soft. It wasn't. Who loves people these days? That was so '90s.

"Don't worry," he said, turning. "I won't make that mistake again."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"Can you break something that's not there?"

That was an interesting turnaround. She looked down at her cell phone. Midnight. "I don't think that my dad's coming."

"Rashad will take you home," he said, going through the backdoor and just leaving her out there, just like she had left his love laying on the floor, looking at the stars.

Slowly, she followed behind him. "Where is he?"

Adeem shrugged, going to the fridge. "Your ride, you find him."

"Are you really going to be like that?"

"Yeah, I am."

She sighed, going down the hall to the guest room that his brothers used when they stayed over. "Rashad?"

He wasn't there. She went into Adeem's room. On his bed was a note, saying that Rashad got a call that a friend was in town. He didn't want to bother them outside, so he just left. He'd be back around four that morning.

"Your brother's gone."

"Then walk home," he said, getting ice cream.

"Seriously?"

He sighed. "Call your dad again. Or Max."

"I have," she said, frowning at him. "I think that they forgot me."

"Did you call Tyler?"

"Dr. Martinez took him, Jason, Neo, and Lucas to Colorado with her."

"Don't you guys have a house phone?"

"We did, but Lance put it in the toilet last year and we never got another one," she said, shrugging.

"Then you're stuck here," he decided.

Tabitha decided not to mention Luther. He was probably drunk anyways. Damien would probably come get her, but he was with his new baby and she didn't want to bother him and Cameron. Besides, it was late.

"Yep," she said as he got a second bowl out. "Is that for me?"

"Shark Bait."

Figures…

"I was kidding," he said, noticing her look. "Come on, let's watch a movie."

"You're not mad at me?" She asked as he shoved the bowl in her hands.

"Of course I'm mad at you," he said, going to sit down on the couch. She followed him.

"Then…?"

"Then what?" He turned on the TV, lighting up the dark house ever so slightly.

"Why are you being nice to me?"

"Because, Tabitha, I'm not you," he sad as she sat down next to him. "Not everyone thinks that they have to be cold just to prove how tough they are."

"I'm not trying-"

"Just shut up, okay?" He laid his head against a couch pillow. "You give me a headache."

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"About the headache?"

"…Partly."

He smiled a little bit. "It's okay."

If only that were true.

* * *

><p>I pushed Fang a little.<p>

"What?"

"Thought that you were going somewhere?"

"Hmmm?"

"You're still naked," I told him. "Didn't you leave?"

"No," he said, yawning. We were down six boys now, with Cody and James with Trinity, and the others were with Mom. We just had Lance and Chris, who went to bed early, at six almost. Fang and I decided to do something that we never got to do anymore.

"Weren't you supposed to do something really important?" I ran a hand down his tattooed arm.

"Like what?"

"Is your phone off?" I asked. "Someone could have called you about it. Maybe it was work…"

"Nah," he said. "It's not off either. Just in the living room."

"Still," I said, frowning at him.

He looked at the clock. It was five in the morning. "It's late. Let me sleep."

I closed my eyes again. "Can't believe no one's bothered us yet. We've been in bed since the boys went to bed."

"It's only the two of them."

"Yeah, but Tabby is here too."

"Fuck!" He jumped up, throwing the blankets off of him.

"What?"

"While you were napping, I took her over to Adeem's," he said, going to get dressed.

"You never told me that."

"When did I have time, Max?" He put on his shoes. "You woke up and the boys were already asleep. We started having sex and I just…damn it."

I sighed. "Bad father."

"Shut the fuck up," he said, slamming the bedroom door on his way out. Well then.

* * *

><p>"How is this my fault?"<p>

Fang slammed the plate down in front of me. "You're the one who forgot her."

What? Tabitha, who was sitting across from me, didn't look up from her breakfast. It was the next morning and no one was happy, except for Chris and Lance. Fang had gone and gotten Tabitha, who was sleeping with Adeem on the couch. So what? I slept on in his bed when we were kids, no adult supervision. Big deal.

Lance frowned at Fang. "I need juice."

Fang grumbled, going to get it for him. Chris giggled.

"Mommy bad."

"Stop it," I told him, frowning. "See what you do, Fang?"

"What?" He gave Lance his juice, who told him thank you.

"You make them think that I'm bad."

"They form their opinions based on what they see."

"Or hear from a dumbass."

"What is wrong with you?" He got even madder at me. Madder…hatter…Hehe…I love that movie…Not the new one though…Ew…Tabitha likes it though…Wonder if I work today…I'm sleepy…

"Max!" He yelled. Oh right, we were having a conversation…sort of.

"What?" I slammed down my fork. "What do you want?"

He shook his head, walking off. Chris looked over at the doorway, making sure he was gone, before dragging his daddy's plate over to him and Lance, who happily ate from it.

"What did I say?" I asked Tabitha

"Dumbass."

"Oh…" Yeah, I do have work. "Here, Lance, you want the rest of my food?"

"Thought that you were eating now?" Tabitha asked me.

"I was," I said, going to get the cats water. "Then I hit 99 and felt fat."

She just shook her head, continuing to eat.

* * *

><p>Samantha hadn't talked to her mom in a few days, so she was in shock when she walked into her bedroom at seven in the morning.<p>

"Here," she said, tossing something on the bed and leaving. Frowning, Samantha picked up the box.

"Wait!"

"What?" Cameron opened the door again as the baby began to cry.

"Can't you guys be quiet?" Damien grumbled from his room, going to get her.

"Why did you get me an MP3 player?" She had never asked for one. What would she do with it? Though she could brag about it to Neo…

"Because Ipods cost too much," Cameron said.

"Do you feel bad for not caring about me?"

Cameron didn't answer her, instead turning and walking away. As she passed Samantha, or Nicki's, old bedroom, she heard Damien talking to the baby.

"Yeah," he was saying. "They're just loud by nature. Don't worry, I'm not that bad."

The baby stared at him as he cradled her, wishing that he would just shut up.

"Huh, Vanessa?" He gave her a kiss as he put her back in her crib. "You think that I'm good, right?"

He gave her a kiss again before leaving. When he got downstairs, Cameron had a list of chores for him, but he just pushed through it. After all, she did love him. Sort of.


	25. Chapter 25

Broken

Chapter 25

**August**

"Eric's back."

Damien didn't look up. "That's great, Sam."

"What are you doing?"

He was sitting on the floor, laying next to the baby. "Playing with Vanessa."

Samantha frowned. She didn't like Vanessa. "Wanna play with me?"

"Not right now, Sammy," he said, holding a hand out in front of Vanessa's face. She reached up and he let her grab his finger. "Go play with Mommy."

"She's mean."

"Not on purpose," he told her.

"Still," she said. "Please? You never play with me anymore."

"Sam, we just played Barbies yesterday," he said. "Besides, I go to work soon."

"Can't I go to work with you?"

"Not today," Damien said as Vanessa started fussing. He sat up and took the baby into his arms. "I work late."

"How late?"

"Real late."

"You're going to leave me with Mom?"

"Samantha, she is not that bad," he said as Vanessa calmed a little. "I deal with her."

"She likes you."

"She likes you too."

"Not really."

"Yes, really," he said. "Look at all the stuff she buys you."

"Only after she yells at me."

"Well, see, it's like a pay off. You get yelled at so you get something," he said, standing. "I'm going to take a shower and put Vanessa in her crib. Leave her alone."

She just crossed her arms as he daddy walked off. When did he find something better to do than play with her? Oh, right, when Vanessa showed up.

* * *

><p>"Don't you think that's great?"<p>

Fang kept eating.

"Fang?"

"What?"

"Don't you think it's great though?"

"Huh?"

I sighed. "Do you just completely ignore me when I talk?"

"Yes. Now what do you want?"

"I was just thinking how great it is for Damien and Cameron, most Damien, right now, with the baby. Don't you miss that?"

He shrugged, going back to his sandwich. "Baseball, Max."

I sighed, glancing at my TV. We could be watching some mindless reality show right now, but no.

"Yeah, but Fang…I'm pregnant."

"Go bother someone- What?" He looked at me, frowning. "I thought that you were on birth control?"

"I was," I told him. "But we stopped having sex and it got so annoying. I just stopped. Then we started again and I forgot."

"You could have fucking told me and I would have used protection, dumbass."

"Oh, you can say dumbass, but I can't?"

"I don't say it around the kids."

I pointed to my stomach.

Fang groaned. "Are you sure?"

"I haven't been to the doctor yet, no."

He got up. "Go to the doctor and then we'll go from there, alright?"

"Whatever."

* * *

><p>"You bought an apartment?"<p>

Bone nodded.

Luther sighed. "Guess you couldn't stay with me forever."

"No parties, no friends."

"I have a girlfriend now."

Bone shrugged.

"So where did you go?" Luther asked.

"Away."

"To see someone?"

"No," he said honestly. "Just got bored."

"I know what you mean," Luther mumbled.

"Hmmm?"

"Nothing," he sighed, getting up and turning on the stereo. He put on some Oasis to help himself feel better.

"One."

"What?" He looked at Bone.

"They had one hit."

"Did not."

"Wonderwall wasn't even that great."

"Was too. Hater."

Bone pulled out his phone. "Go."

"Where?"

"Concert."

"Can I come?"

"No."

He frowned at Bone left. Friends…yeah right.

* * *

><p>"I wanna play," Jason whined.<p>

"No," Lucas said. "It's mine."

"What is it?"

"Phoenix Wright."

"I wanna play!"

"You don't even know what that is."

"Yes, I do. It's your new game and I want to play it, so gimme!"

"No."

"Yes!"

And Max was pregnant? Fang groaned.

"Leave him alone, Jason."

"But I wanna play!"

"Lucas, let him play."

"It's a one person game!"

"I wanna play," Jason yelled.

"No!"

"Just shut up," Fang told them. He had moved to his bedroom to watch the game, but it wasn't working so well.

Lucas went back to his DS. Jason stuck his tongue out at his oldest living full brother and walked away.

"Tyler said that Mom's pregnant."

"She might be."

Lucas started giggling.

"What?" Fang glanced at him. Lucas was so weird… "Why is that funny?"

"You have to have sex to be pregnant."

Fang blushed. Why was he laughing? "And?"

Lucas just kept giggling.

"Get out of here," Fang finally told him, making the boy run off, giggling the whole way.

The next to show up was Lance.

"Hi," he said, standing right in front of the TV.

"Move, buddy."

"No."

"Want to come lay on my chest?"

"Yes!" Lance ran to go do so. Fang made him be quiet until the inning ended and the channel went to commercial.

"You and Jay are about to start school, huh?"

Lance groaned. "Yes."

Jason was very excited by this thought. He had seen his brothers and sister go forever and now he was finally getting his chance at this older kid privilege. Lance, however, was not nearly as enticed with this new challenge.

"Are you happy?"

"No," Lance said.

"Why not?"

"Chris ain't there."

"Jay is."

"He's mean and isn't in my class."

Fang sighed. All of the other boys had friends in the neighborhood, save Tyler, except for Lance and Chris. They only had each other and liked it that way.

"You had to get more friends eventually."

"No!"

"Yeah, Lance, you did," Fang said, sighing a little. "School will be fun."

"No," he decided. "It'll be horrible."

Probably… Fang ended the conversation there because the game came back on.

* * *

><p>The first day of school, Lance cried. He was very afraid of it. Chris wasn't happy either. As Fang took the other kids to school, he seemed to realize that it was just me and him.<p>

"Play?"

"Full sentences."

"That's why I like Lance better."

"See? Full sentences help."

He frowned, getting up into bed with me. "Mommy?"

"What?"

"I miss Lance."

"Baby, he'll be home soon."

He cuddled against me. "What if he gets another friend?"

"He will, Chris," I told him. "That's not a bad thing though."

"Yes."

"No, it's not," I told him. "Neo has other friends and he and Jay are still friends."

"No."

"Yes."

He frowned at me. "I no want him to gets more friends."

"Too bad, baby. You guys need more friends than just each other."

"Why?"

"Because then you'll end up like Tyler and one day, your one friend will want more friends and you're left all alone. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Chris pushed me away before getting out of bed. I sighed, getting up and following him. When I got to the living room, he was there, looking for something.

"What are you looking for, baby?"

"Cat."

I laid down on the couch as he found Fox and started playing with him. When Fang came home, he had donuts.

"Yay!" Chris ran to him as Fang sat down a box full of them on the table. "I love you, Daddy!"

Fang lifted him up with one arm. "See, Chris? It's not that bad, being stuck home with me and Max."

"Baby, I don't want any donuts," I told Fang.

"Of course you do."

"No," I said.

"What? You want eggs?"

"I'm not hungry."

He seemed to think about arguing before just putting Chris down on the ground. He opened the box and handed Chris a chocolate covered one.

"There, bubba," he said, ruffling his hair a little. Chris waited to eat it until his dad was sitting in the chair. He climbed into Fang's lap, giggling as Fang frowned at him.

"Fang, don't eat too much," I said, glancing at the five donuts in his hands.

"Max, I'll eat no more than ten."

"How many did you buy?"

"Two dozen."

"Fang."

"What?" He looked down at Chris, who was getting very messy with his donut. "You're gonna help me eat them, huh? Before the other boys get home?"

"Save one for Lance?"

"No," Fang said. "Then we'd have to save one for all of them. This is just for us."

Chris thought of this for a second before getting up and getting another. "Want one, Mommy?"

"No, baby."

"Baby want one?" He looked at my stomach with interest.

I frowned. "Who told you I was pregnant?"

"Lance."

I looked at Fang. "Do all of the kids know?"

He nodded. "The older ones know that the only time you go to the doctor is when you're pregnant. They just assumed. Jay heard you talking to Nudge on the phone one night."

I sighed. "No, Chris, the baby isn't hungry."

He nodded before running back over to Fang. "How come you can't have baby, Daddy?"

"Because only girls can have a baby."

"Why?"

"God made it that way."

Chris lifted up Fang's shirt a little. "Stomach too hard to hold baby. Gots muscles, right?"

"Yep," Fang said, smiling down at him.

I frowned. "What are you trying to say?"

"Mommy got soft tummy. Small, soft, cute tummy," he said. "Daddy got strong, hard, muscle tummy."

"Yeah, Max," Fang said. "I have a muscle tummy."

"Sure ain't got abs no more."

Fang frowned at me. "What?"

"Nothing."

"No. What did you mean?"

"Just that your stomach gets flatter and flatter every day."

"Screw you," he said, standing up. Chris frowned, following him up the stairs and to the attic.

"I think that's what got us here in the first place," I mumbled, looking down at my stomach. "You better be a girl."

My stomach growled back at me. For a second, I thought that I should eat something. While I was contemplating reaching over and grabbing a donut though, I fell asleep. Oh well.

* * *

><p>Vanessa stared at her father with interest. At the moment, he was parading his most prized possessions in front of her.<p>

"This is Joker," Damien said, holding the toy in front of her. "Then this is Batman. Enemies. This is Goku . Then this is Krilliin. Friends. See?"

"Damien, what are you doing?" Cameron walked down the stairs.

"Teaching Nessa," he said, holding Kenshin and Kaoru toys in front of the baby's face. "These, Vanessa, are not only friends. They're more than that. We'll get to that later though. This is their baby, Kenji, like you're my and Cameron's baby. Only you like me more than Kenji likes Kenshin."

"Damien, shut up," Cameron said, going into the kitchen.

Damien made a face at her, making Vanessa smile at him. Damien leaned over her to give the baby a kiss.

"Ready for more?" He turned and started going through his box of toys. "Let's see…uh…this is another Naruto, wearing white instead of orange…took me forever to find…um….this is another Kenshin…Here's Superman. You like him? I do. Wanna see Daddy's tattoo? It's of him. Daddy loves Superman. He's amazing, you know."

Vanessa made a noise, closing her eyes. She was tired of her daddy now. He talked too much.

"Alright, alright," Damien sighed. "Naptime, I guess."

He took her up to her room and put her in her crib. "Goodnight, baby. I've got work in a little, so you won't see me again today, unless you wake up when I get home. I'll check on you as soon as I do, though. I love you. Bye-bye."

She was so happy when he left. Daddy was loud and wouldn't leave her alone. It was so annoying…

* * *

><p>Tabitha was not happy. Adeem had A lunch, while she had C. She was stuck with Jenna to sit with.<p>

"There's your brother," Jenna said as they sat down at a table. "Where's he going?"

Tabitha watched him throw his still full tray away before walking out of the cafeteria. He never ate his lunch. To hide this from Max, he still bought it so that he didn't have extra money lying around.

"I don't know," she said as some other girls sat down with them. "Who cares?"

"You're brother's not that bad," McKinley said.

"What do you mean?" Tabitha frowned at her as she pulled out her cell phone. Adeem, who was in homeroom right now, sent her a text. He wanted to hang out after school. Since the whole fight thing, they hadn't talked that much, but they were still alright. Or so she guessed.

"It's just- Uh-oh."

Tyler had come back into the cafeteria after leaving to go get a soda from the vending machine. Mark, a kind of heavy boy that hated Tyler's guts, got up from his table and walked over to Tyler and said something to him. Tyler tried to walk around him, but Mark just stepped in the way. Tyler turned to walk away, but Mark grabbed him. Now it was obvious that Tyler was annoyed.

One of the lunch monitors was walking over when the other kid pushed Tyler. Done with the whole thing, Tyler punched him. Tabitha was expecting a fight, but one and done. The other boys took a step back.

"Did your brother just k.o. him?" Jenna frowned, while McKinley stared at him from across the cafeteria.

Tabitha groaned as Tyler was dragged out of the cafeteria by a teacher. It would be Hell when she got home. Then she saw McKinley's look and groaned again.

* * *

><p>"First day of school and you freaking do this?" I was so done with Tyler. "You get suspended? Huh?"<p>

He didn't say anything to me.

"Fine, don't talk," I said, pulling away from the school. "You can save your voice for Fang."

"What?"

"Yep, he's off today. You're lucky I came to pick you up, because he'd already be hitting you."

Tyler sunk further down into his seat. "It's not even fair!"

"Save it. You didn't want to talk before and you're not now."

"I hate you."

"Good."

When we got home, Fang was up in the attic.

"Well, go on," I told Tyler. "I'm sure that he's waiting for you."

He frowned at me before making he deliberately slow trek. I looked at the couch to find Chris sitting there, staring at me.

"What?"

"You look hungry," he said, jumping up. He walked over to the coffee table and held up some Play Doh. "Here. Made you a cookie."

"No thanks."

"But you have to!"

"No," I said, walking off towards the bedroom. "Come on. Naptime."

"You always make it naptime."

"Come on."

He picked up Fox and followed me. "I'm not tired, Mommy."

"Then get that way."

* * *

><p>"D-"<p>

"Shhh," Fang said, staring at the TV. "Go away."

Tyler frowned. "Max said that you wanted to yell at me."

"Huh?"

"For getting suspended."

Fang sighed, looking up. "What did you do again?"

"Fight."

"Did you win?"

"Yeah."

"Then go away," Fang said, turning his attention back to the anime he was trying to watch. "Do you not see that I'm busy?"

"You're not mad at me?"

Fang stood up and walked over to his son. Staring down at him, Fang said, "The day you lose a fight, I'll kick your ass. Until then, just don't disrespect teachers and don't knock anyone up. Alright?"

As if the second one would ever happen… "Alright."

"Now go away," Fang said, going to sit back down. "I'm busy."

Tyler smiled a little before walking down the stairs with some pride, if not a whole lot. He was suspended and not grounded for once. This was great!

* * *

><p>"Guess what, Mom?"<p>

"Be quiet," Cameron said as Samantha got into the car. "The baby's sleeping.

"But-"

"Samantha, I'm serious."

"My name is Nicki."

"God, just be quiet, okay? I don't want to hear you."

"You're so mean to me," Samantha said. "Like…you're my evil stepmother and dad married you, so now you're stuck with me."

Reverse it and she has the true story. Cameron rolled her eyes. "Just don't wake her up."

Samantha turned her head to stare at the baby's carrier, which was in the seat next to her. "She already is awake."

"Because of you."

"I think it's because of you…Cameron."

"What?"

"That's right," Samantha said. "Until you learn to call me Nicki, I'm going to pretend that you're just my stepmother. Like how Tyler calls Max by her name, I'm going to call you Cameron."

"Good," she said, stopping at a red light. "You little brat."

"Nope, brat doesn't work either. It's Nicki or nothing."

"Samantha-"

"Nicki!"

Vanessa started to fuss a little, making Cameron curse.

"It's okay, Vanessa," Samantha said dryly. "She only hates me. She's alright with you. You're not her stepdaughter."

"Goddamn it, Samantha! I'm not your fucking stepmother, alright? God."

"Yes, you are. That's why you hate me."

"No, that's not why," she said. "I hate you because, if it was up to me, you wouldn't be here right now."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't want to be pregnant, I didn't want to have a baby, and I didn't want to keep it. Your dad did. Once he was gone, Damien wanted you just as much. Now I'm stuck with you."

Samantha frowned. "Damien is my dad, Cameron."

She snorted. Yeah, okay."

"He is!" Who else would be?

Cameron changed her course, now setting it on a different house entirely.

"Get out."

Samantha frowned. "No. I wanna go home."

"Get out," Cameron repeated. "Now!"

Crying, Samantha jumped out and ran up to the door. And she didn't even get to tell her mom how she found a dollar on the playground and kept it!

* * *

><p>"Hello?"<p>

"Your wife just dropped your daughter off."

Damien frowned, sitting up a little. He didn't have a client at the moment and wouldn't for another half hour.

"Why?"

"I don't know. The kid said that Cameron told her that you weren't her father and then made her leave."

"Can you watch her tonight?"

"…No."

"Dad-"

"I am busy."

"Where's Mom?"

"Making the girl food."

"Then can't Mom watch her?"

"We are not a babysitting service."

"Dad-"

"But, I guess we have to," he said before Damien could start. Then he just hung up. Damien sighed, putting his phone away. Tonight would be fun.

* * *

><p>"Where's Tabitha?" Fang asked as he came downstairs.<p>

"She sent me a text. She went over to Adeem's house."

"First day of school and she's already ditching us," he mumbled, sitting down next to me on the couch.

"Did you yell at Tyler?"

"Yep."

"Really?"

"…What are you watching?" He wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

That distracted me. "Kardashians."

"Of course."

"What?"

He just smiled, kissing my head. "Where are all the boys?"

"I just picked up the younger three and they're all in their rooms. Lance, by the way, had the best day of his life."

"I knew he would."

"Neo, not so much, and Jay just said that it was okay."

"What about Luke?"

"I don't know," I said, frowning. "He was very quiet."

"Hope everything's okay."

"You could go talk to him, you know."

Fang shrugged, leaning down to kiss my stomach. "Do you really think that I'm out of shape?"

"No," I said, pushing his head again. "Do you think that I am?"

"I think that you don't eat enough."

"Change the subject much?"

He just smiled at me. "I hope this one's a girl."

A paper airplane hit me in the head. I looked up to see Neo and Jason staring down at us, leaning up against the railing.

"Yeah, me too."

* * *

><p>"My dad offered me a job at his work."<p>

Tabitha glanced up from the book she was reading. First day of school and they already had a reading assignment. Fun. "Did you take it?"

"Fuck no," he said, using his book as a fetch toy with Shark Bait. "How can I cater to all of your endless needs if I have a job? I mean, that's assuming you don't leave anytime soon."

"Not today, Adeem, okay?" She went back to her book.

He contemplated annoying her further, but decided against it. He threw the book again when Shark Bait brought it back.

"Heard your brother knocked some kid out."

"Yep."

They were in his bedroom, on his bed. The door was open and he was throwing the book out there, into the hallway. They could go play outside, but they were both too lazy to get up and move.

"One time, your mom is going to be walking in the hall and you're going to hit her with that damn book."

"Ooh, did I hit a nerve? You're cursing."

"I'm cursing because you're annoying."

"Does bringing up your brother and his freakness make you angry?"

"Not in the slightest," she said before looking up. "And freakness is not a word."

"Tabitha is not a word, if you think about it."

"No, it's a name."

"How do you know freakness isn't a name?" He smiled at her. "That'll be my second daughter's name."

"What about the first one?"

"Shark Bait, remember?" He said as the dog perked up a little.

"Shark Bait and Freakness…great…"

"Is that enough to make you stay?" He asked, looking away from her and back at the dog.

"No." But maybe, she added in her head.

* * *

><p>"What are you so happy about?" Tyler asked as Lucas turned on their TV and put it on a channel with music videos. Not MTV, of course. That would make too much sense.<p>

"I don't know," Lucas said as Lady Gaga's Edge of Glory came out at number 1. "Maybe it's just that I got my first kiss and, I have to say, I'm freaking amazing."

Tyler frowned. It was one thing when Tabitha got her first kiss first, because, let's face it, she's a slut in the making, but this was just too much. Lucas? Lucas? He freaking plays with bugs! His true first kiss probably came from one of them…

"You can't tell how you kiss, only the other person."

"How would you know? I mean, hello, you've never even seen a girl's boobies!"

"Neither have you!"

"Yeah huh! One time, I was over at Damien's, and Cameron was in the shower and I might of accidentally-"

"You're going straight to Hell."

Lucas shrugged. "All I'm saying is that you better step up your game, because I'm on fire."

"You're nine."

"I'll be ten in December."

"You're still nine."

"And done a lot more than you'll probably ever will."

"…Why Cameron?"

"She's hot."

"Her voice is annoying."

Lucas shrugged. "It was really an accident. Kind of. I accidentally thought of it and then I just somehow ended up in their room, peeking through the door. Totally out of my control."

"What if she had caught you?"

"I told you. Out of my control. I didn't even think about it."

Tyler frowned at his brother as the show ended. "You're only nine, Lucas. You can't even get any enjoyment out of that."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't get a…boner or anything."

"How do you know?" Now Lucas was embarrassed. "Bet I have a better one of those than you."

"You don't even know what it is."

"…I'm gonna tell Mommy that you're mean to me!"

"See? You still call her Mommy, like a baby."

"And Daddy too! He'll hit you."

"No, he won't," Tyler said.

"How are you so sure?"

"He said that he'll never hit me again, unless I lose a fight."

"Well, I'll just have to beat you up then."

"I'd love to see you try."

Lucas made a face at him before running out of the room. Tyler was just a meanie.

* * *

><p>"Are you my daddy?"<p>

Damien frowned, walking into his parents' house. "Of course. Who else would be?"

"I don't know," Samantha said, hugging him. "Mom said that-"

"Who cares what she says?" He looked at his mom. "Thanks."

"It's late," Trinity said. "She already took a bath and ate."

He gave his mom a hug before leaving. When they got home, he put Samantha to bed before going to check on Vanessa. She was sleeping.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?" He walked into his bedroom to find Cameron in his spot on the bed, something that she did when he was working late and she wanted to know when he got home.

"Shut up," she mumbled, not moving. "I'm sleeping."

"Don't you ever say something like that to her."

"What say do you have in any of this?" Cameron sat up and looked at him. "That's my daughter, not yours."

"Who's last name does she have?"

"Who's DNA?"

He frowned at her. "What did she even do to you?"

"She was going to wake up Vanessa."

"No, not this time, Cameron," he said, shaking a finger at her. "I mean all times. She's a kid that has nothing to do with anything that happened to you. An innocent bystander. Sure, maybe I should have been home, maybe I should have-"

"Nothing's your fault Damien," she mumbled, looking away from him.

"Then why are you taking it out on my daughter?"

"Because I hate her."

He stared into her eyes for a second, trying to judge the seriousness of the moment. Very. "Then I hate you."

Cameron broke, if only for a minute. "What?"

"Yeah," he said, now a tad more confident. "Samantha is a part of me and that means that you hate me, so I hate you."

"She is not any part of you, Damien. She's part of me and part of Tristan!"

He was broke too. How much did she really expect him to take? "I don't care if she's physically part of me or not, Cameron. That's my daughter. I'm the only father that she knows and the only one she ever will."

"Who's trying to take that from you, Damien?"

"You. You try to take all the joy out of my life. That's all you've ever done and ever will do." He looked at the picture on their dresser. It was before they were married, before she was pregnant, before she got taken. It was when they were happy. When there was some form of a connection between them.

"You're chasing ghosts, Cameron. Tommy's, Tristan's, your mother's, your father's…everyone that's dead to you, in your mind or in reality." He looked back at her again. "They're gone now, but we're not! We're here. Stay with us."

She looked down at Peter, who was watching them. "Then what, Damien? What was the point of this?"

"…I'm chasing your ghost, Cameron. The old one. The one that I loved, but it's not there anymore," he said, shaking his head a little. "And it's not coming back."

"Then what?" She repeated.

"Then I'm done," he said. "With you, with this marriage…I quit."

"Fine then," she said, taking off her ring and throwing it at him. "Take it back. Take it all back! Take this stupid cross," she ripped it from her neck and threw it at him. "I never even wanted it. Take all the stupid things and lies that you told me and keep them. I don't want them anymore, you fucking bastard! Take your stupid kids and just go."

He walked out the door, slamming it behind him. He went into Samantha's room first. She was waiting for him.

"Put on your shoes," he said, helping her out of bed.

"We just got home."

"Hurry," he said, helping her. "Come on."

Damien lifted her up and carried her from the house and out to his truck.

Cameron was at the front door, waiting for him. "Don't forget your fucking baby."

He didn't say anything to her. There was nothing to say. He had fooled himself all this time. As if she could love something. She didn't know the meaning.

"Shhh," he mumbled under his breath, picking Vanessa up. "Stop crying. I didn't mean to be so loud."

He put her in her carrier and grabbed her diaper bag before walking out of the room and then the house. As he drove away, he saw Cameron standing in the doorway, watching him. She was always watching him.

It wasn't until he was long gone from the house that he realized two things. One, he left Peter. Two, he had nowhere to go.

He could go back to his parents, but it was honestly late and they had probably gone to bed as soon as he took Samantha. Luther was an option, but he was either up at the store or drunk. Then there was Max and Fang. He knew they'd take them in regardless of the hour, but they had no room, really. No, there was only one option and he did not like it. And this person was always up, chasing ghosts too, long before Damien even knew him.

"I need a place to stay."

Bone looked past him and did a head count. One person short. Damien finally grew a pair. "Welcome."

"Can I sleep in your room, Eric?"

He shrugged, taking Samantha's hand and leading her to his room. He put her in his bed.

"Aren't you gonna be in here?"

"No," he said, leaving. He took Vanessa from Damien and put her in the bed too, laying pillows on one side of her, knowing that Sam would be on her other. "Watch your sister."

"What about Daddy?" She stared up at him, scared. "And Mommy?"

He could only smile at her. Damn kid. This was probably the worst thing that had happened to her so far, her parents fighting like this. She was born into a situation, though, that almost certainly had no other outcome. If it wasn't for Damien, she would have been like all the other unlovable, forgotten kids and ended up at Max and Fang's.

Would that really have been any better though? Sure, they loved the boys that they had taken in, but, like Damien and Cameron, they were sitting on a time bomb and when it went off, it'd blow a hole through their happy family façade.

"Eric?"

He had started to the door, not even answer her question. "Hmmm?"

"Is Daddy really my daddy?"

Bone looked back at her, if only for a second. "Do you want him to be?"

"Yes."

"Then you've already one-upped me there."

"But is he?"

Bone just walked out on her, only a precursor to her dating life if these daddy issues continued. He was only doing her a favor, giving her practice, in this way. Too bad no one helped Cameron.


	26. Chapter 26

Broken

Chapter 26

**October**

The first month, no one saw Cameron at all. She was on maternity leave still and had no need to ever leave the house. After a few days, Damien freaked when she wouldn't answer anyone's calls and thought that she was dead. He tried to get back in the house, but she had changed the locks on him, having left most of his clothes and the girl's stuff on his mother's doorstep one night.

Anyways, after that first month, she had to go back to work. I only knew that she went back because Damien went up to her job. As Cameron was secretary, she saw him immediately. She just threatened security on him and he left.

I think that somewhere in his mind, Damien never expected it to go down like this. He figured that if he gave Cameron a few weeks, she would come after him. If he thought that though, I argue that he didn't know his wife at all.

I didn't have time to focus on them, though. I mean, if Damien, Mr. Straight lace, no divorce without cheating, left his wife, I was screwed. So, I had started trying to act better around Fang. Having sex with him more often, not being such a bitch all the time, eating when he tells me. Now that does not mean that I have given up sleeping, because honestly, I'd give up my kids before I did that…okay, maybe not my kids, but my mother at least.

"Here," Fang said, giving me a coke and plate full of eggs. "Want anything else?"

"No," I said, beginning to eat. Fang smiled. He must think that I'm eating because I want to. In reality, I'm just waiting for him to go up to the attic so that I can go feed it to Tank.

"You want me to rub your shoulders?"

What? I glanced at Fang. "Um, no."

"Oh." He sat down in the chair. "Chris went to your mom's."

"Okay."

"Yeah."

"Wanna watch a game or something?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Wanna watch the Kardashians?"

"They're not on today."

"Oh. Not even one of their spin-offs?"

"Nope."

"Oh."

"Do you work today?"

"Yep. You're off."

"That's cool."

"Yeah."

"Fang?"

"What?"

"Don't leave me."

"I won't."

"Not even if I treat you like Cameron did Damien?"

"Baby, if you treat me that good, I might just have to buy you a new car."

I smiled a little. "Last time you bought me a car, you had another girlfriend."

He just smiled at me. "I love you too much to do that to you again. I saw how it hurt you."

I looked down at my eggs. "Fang, my morning sickness is acting up. I can't eat this."

"That's okay," he said, getting up and taking it from me. "I don't remember if I fed Tank last night."

"Tabby did."

"Good," he said, walking out of the room. I moved to lay down on the couch.

"Fang?"

"What?"

"I love you."

"You are really happy today, huh?" He went outback for a few minutes, taking care of the dog, before coming back into the house.

"Wanna go into the bedroom?" Fang asked. "We could cuddle."

"Do you want to cuddle?"

"I was asking you."

"Well, I'm asking you."

Fang sighed. "Two months of this, Max, I can't take it. Stop being a kiss ass. My ass is the last thing I want you kissing."

"…You want me to blow you?"

"No. Well, yeah, but no."

"Then what?"

"You've been tiptoeing on my feels for awhile now and I'm tired of it." He looked at me. "I like you because you push me, because you make me hate you, because you give me something to do. Not because you just go along with me."

"You realized what I was doing all on your own?"

"No. I heard you on the phone with Bone yesterday."

I giggled a little. "But I don't want to give you a blowjob, Fang."

"That's fine," he said, getting up. He lifted me into his arms. "I'm sure I can find something else for us to do."

I smiled at him. "So you have no problem with the more sex part of keeping you around?"

"It worries me, but not enough to make me put a stop to it."

"Of course not."

* * *

><p>As Luther was never home now, or ever, it was easy for Damien to move in there. It was nice of Bone to offer up his place, but they weren't that close. They weren't friends like that. They were hardly friends at all. No, Luther was a lot better option.<p>

Vanessa didn't like it though. This crib wasn't her crib. No. No matter how many times Daddy said it was, it wasn't. In reality, it was James's old one, but Damien saw no need to tell her that her pink one was at the house with the changed locks. No, she would have to use the green one and like it.

"Daddy's sorry," Damien said, laying down in one of the guest room beds. He laid Vanessa next to him and pulled her to his side. He liked cuddling with his baby. She was amazing. Not just for cuddling, but for support. Samantha was being really bratty recently, which was understandable considering, but still.

Vanessa made a noise, reaching over to grab his nose. He smiled at her, gently grabbing her hand and removing it. Kissing it, he ran a hand down her face, smiling. He loved his baby. He loved both of his babies. He would love all three of his babies if Cameron was nice to the other girls.

"Daddy thinks that it's naptime," Damien said as she started playing with his fingers. Vanessa looked up at him and smiled. Damien smiled back. "Are you sleepy?"

She let go of his hand and reached up to grab his nose again. Sighing, he grabbed her hand.

"Why do you like my nose so much? Huh?" He kissed her head.

"Damien! Are you here?"

"Yeah, Luther," he said, rolling his eyes. He might be grateful for Luther taking him in, but he still wasn't back to his old, fanboy like admiration for the slightly older man. That was long gone now.

"Good," he said, coming into the room. He looked at the baby. "Hi, Veronica."

"Not Veronica."

"Samantha."

"Nope."

"…Anyways, I just wanted you to know that I won't be home for a few days, so-"

"Why not?"

"Going somewhere," he said. "And don't tell Naomi and that I'm with other women."

"If you hadn't said that I wouldn't have known."

Luther frowned. "Right…then forget I said anything."

Damien sighed, looking back down at Vanessa. "What else?"

"Uh…you know, the usual."

"You mean don't answer any calls to the house phone, because they're either bill collectors or spurned lovers?"

"See, that's why you're my best friend."

Hardly. Damien went back to Vanessa. She was so cute. He loved babies.

"Alright, bro, I'm gone," Luther called a few minutes later from somewhere in the house. "See you around."

"Yeah, see you," Damien said, shaking his head. Stupid little rich boy… No, he didn't mean that. But didn't he? Luther had everyone do everything for him and then could just take off whenever he wanted and not have to worry about anything, not even about his son. Stupid little white boy would be the better term… Damien frowned, shaking his head.

"You know what, Nessa?" He picked her up. "Let's go watch TV in the living room."

She leaned against him, smiling the whole way. Daddy might be annoying, but he was still her favorite person.

* * *

><p>Cameron frowned, staring at the empty fridge.<p>

"Damien-" She stopped herself. He wasn't there. "Well, Peter, I guess I have to go to the store."

The cat jumped up onto the counter, meowing at her. It was so wonderful in the house now. Sure, he missed his master, but he was now just a distant memory. It was Peter and Cameron forever, just the way it always should have been. No annoying, smaller humans that cry and tail pull. Nope. Plus, he had the whole house to himself now when Cameron went to work. And, at night, he had Damien's whole half of the bed. Yes, this was the best possible outcome for him and he was loving it.

Cameron, on the other hand, wasn't. Sure, for that first week, after all the crying was over that first night, this seemed perfect. She had never needed Damien or her daughters. Then she ran out of cokes. Which was fine, actually. She needed to drink more water. Then the milk ran out. Fine. Cereal was just as good alone…kind of. Then the water bill needed to be paid. No big deal. She took care of herself forever, before Damien showed up. Then the phone bill. Then the electric bill. Then the TV. Cars too. House. How many bills did people have? All this time Damien had taken care of things and she had forgotten what it was like to fend for yourself. That was all manageable though. Until it happened.

Against common belief, mainly caused by her claims alone, Cameron was not okay. No matter how many times she said she was, it should be painfully obvious that she wasn't. She still held out hope, however, that they were all just wrong. That is, until, she had a nightmare. Normally, when she had one, Damien was right there to comfort her, to hold her, to let her know that he was right there, and nothing would ever happen to her, not again. He wasn't there now, though. It was just her, alone, in a dark house, the same house where it all began. Peter wasn't much help when the nightmares happened, of course not. He was just a cat. As much as she might like him to be, he wasn't Damien, no one was.

"It's alright," she told the cat, closing the fridge. "I've gone to the store, like, twice since he left. It's not a big deal. So what if I have to deal with that shit again? See? Now I can curse all I want without ever having to listen about that Christian junk. I know what I'm doing, Peter."

He just stared at her as she went to go get ready to leave. After she had left the house, the cat curled up on the counter, where Damien didn't let him get because then he got fur everywhere, and closed his eyes, ready to take a nap. Oh, how he loved life now.

* * *

><p>"You sleep a lot."<p>

I groaned, rolling over. "What, Tabitha?"

"I need something."

"What?"

"Money."

I closed my eyes again. "No."

"What?"

"You have money."

"Not anymore."

"Where did it all go?"

"I…This money isn't for me, okay? I just need to borrow some from you, alright?"

"Why can't you use your own?"

"I am. I just won't have enough with only mine."

"Tabitha, you have like four hundred dollars saved up."

"And? Can I borrow some money or not?"

"That depends."

"On what? I said that I'd pay you back."

"It depends on if you tell me what it's for."

She groaned. "Fine. I'll just ask Dr. Martinez."

"Not a good idea at all," I said, cuddling deeper into my bed. "Me? If you don't borrow from me, I won't ask about it again. Her? You'll be forced to tell her whether you take some from her or not."

She was silent for a moment. "Adeem broke a window of his neighbors house and his dad's making him pay for it. I was going to do it for him."

"Must be some window, over four hundred and all."

"…It was more than just glass."

"What did he really do, Tabitha?"

"…He and this kid that he's friends with broke into the neighbors house and busted some stuff up. Now he has a ticket and stuff that he has to pay. I was going to help him."

I frowned, opening my eyes again. "Adeem did this?"

"Yeah."

I rolled my eyes. Boys…and some girls, I guess. "You better not be doing anything like that."

"I'm not!"

"Whatever."

"So are you giving me the money or not?"

"Nope."

"What?"

'Tabitha, what you're doing is nice and everything, but don't. Him paying for that is between him and his parents. You don't factor in at all."

"You might be able to not give me money, but you can't not let me pay for it."

"Oh, yes I can, smart mouth."

"No, you can't."

I sat up. "Tabitha, who are you playing with? Because I know it isn't me.

"I don't even like you, so just shut up! You can't tell me what to do."

"No, but I can."

She turned her head to see Fang come into the room.

"What are you doing, yelling at her like that?" He frowned at me. "Unless you did something."

"I was sleeping," I said, laying back down. "And she just comes in here, asking for money. When I told her no, she got mad at me."

"What do you need money for, Tabitha?" He asked, still suspicious of me. Oh, whatever. Tabitha's a little brat and he's just in denial.

"Nothing," she said, glaring at me.

"Then there's no issue," he said. "Now apologize."

"No," she said, still being annoying. Sigh.

"What did you just say to me?"

She stammered for a second. "It's just…she…she won't let me pay for something for Adeem."

"If she doesn't want to give you money to-"

"Not just that. I was going to use my own money to do something, but she won't let me."

"Max?"

"Hmmm?" I was truly on the edge of falling back to sleep. At least in my dreams Tabitha's not this hard to deal with.

"Why can't she use her own money?"

"To pay for a ticket that her boyfriend got from breaking into a house and breaking things? That should be obvious, Fang."

"What?"

"Max!" She turned her eyes back to me. "God, you're just a little rat."

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes. "And you're just a little brat. Remember, Tabitha. Boarding school."

"Dad!"

"Max," he sighed.

"What?" I rolled over. "I think it's a very nice solution to things. Get her away from Adeem, get a whole other room in the house. Hell, just getting rid of her is enticing enough."

"Max, stop it," Fang said, frowning at me.

"As if she doesn't deserve it."

"I'm serious. Stop."

I closed my eyes tight, trying to pretend that they weren't there. It didn't work.

"I'm not going to say sorry when she acts like that," Tabitha said.

"Good," I told her. "I don't want a fake apology from you."

"Good, because I'll never mean it."

"Good."

"Good."

"Tabitha, get out," Fang said.

"But-"

"Now," he said. "Go to your room. I'll deal with you later."

"Fine!" She ran off. Rawr. Whatever.

"Max, really?" Fang closed the door behind him. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"You're fighting with a kid, you know."

"No, I'm fighting with a kid that needs to learn that when she doesn't get her way, she can't just whine."

"Where do you think that she learned that from?"

"Not me. I always get my way."

He sighed. "Just stop it, alright? Tabitha is my daughter, you know."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Whatever you want it to mean, Max," he said, turning towards the door. "Just leave her alone."

"Fine, Fang," I yelled as he closed the door. "If that's how you want to play, fine!"

* * *

><p>Samantha wasn't stupid. She knew that her mother had kicked them out because she was mean and couldn't accept her as her daughter. It must be hard for her, after all, having such a wonderful stepdaughter and then having a stupid real daughter like Vanessa, and Samantha could sympathize. She didn't hate her mother at all for making them move. And, of course, Luther's big, flat screen in the living room didn't hurt. It made music videos so much better.<p>

"What are you watching?" Damien came into the room, grabbing the remote. "And why is it so loud? Vanessa is sleeping."

Ugh, her again. You'd think that Vanessa was his kid or something. Hello, clearly if someone is taking away from his Samantha time, he should get rid of them. Like Mom.

"BET," Samantha said.

"What?" He groaned. "Samantha-"

"Nicki."

"Nicki, why don't you watch something else? You're not supposed to watch that. Music videos are bad. You're not even allowed to watch MTV or VH1. Plus, Sam, BET is for…black people."

She gapped at him. "You are not allowed to say things like that! You racist."

"Me? I didn't make the station."

"Still," she said, wagging a finger at him. "And why can't I? For all you know, I could be black. Race is only skin deep, Dad. Didn't you go to school?"

"Yes," he said, putting it on Nick.

"Well, you should go again. I might have to tell Grandma on you," she said, sitting back down.

"Sam," he sighed.

"Ew, Spongebob?" She frowned at him. "I don't wanna watch this!"

"Stop being so-"

"I have to finish watching 106 & Park! Please?"

"No, Samantha."

"Why not? Racist."

He groaned. "It's not even just that. It's way too mature for you."

"Says you."

"What?"

She nodded. "I am a very mature person. Mature enough not to be a racist, unlike some of us in the room."

He was going to respond, but Vanessa started crying. "Be right back."

She smiled as he walked out of the room. The blonde just reach over and grabbed the remote, turning it back to her show. Yay! Her idol's video was on. Gee, did she love Nicki Minaj.

* * *

><p>"Have you seen Luther?"<p>

Bone thought for a second. Luther did owe him twenty…but he'd never get it if he told… Bone shook his head.

Naomi sighed, a frown falling on her face. "He hasn't been answering my calls. Do you think that he's dead?"

He's was probably more alive than he had been in awhile. From what Luther had told him, Naomi wasn't all that great under the sheets…or on top of them, depending on the night. Vickie only ever did it under…

Sighing, Bone sat down. "Fine."

"How do you know, though? He could be hurt or something and I'm not there for him."

According to Luther, she was never there for him, in the most important way. Bone shrugged.

"Oh, I just wish I knew where he was."

No, she didn't, Bone decided. It'd kill her if she knew. He smiled a little. Naomi was annoying. Trying to change the way things were… It was so wrong. Things were fine at the store. Weren't they? He thought that they were. It would kill her…but was it worth twenty bucks? He did have rent to pay now. Hmmm…

"Well, Max is supposed to be here now," Naomi said, sighing. "If she would hurry up and get here, I could leave. But, no. God. I wish Luther had fired her when-"

"Go," Bone said before he blurted out the secret. She was disgracing Max! As if Max was some kind of bad person, yeah right. She was wonderful…to an extent. "Quickly."

"Fine," she said, standing up and walking out. Bone was so weird.

Now that he was alone, Bone decided to turn on the stereo. Then he could really get away and forget about this awful day. Awful week. Awful month. Awful year. Awful decade. Awful life. This awful life.

At some point, he was brought out of his trance by his music being turned off. Huh? He turned his head and saw that it was Max. She smiled at him before sitting down next to him and going to sleep. He shook his head. Tiny, little extent.

* * *

><p>"If six six six is the devil's numbers, is three three three half as bad?"<p>

"What? No," Dan said, frowning at his adopted grandchild. "And six six six is not the devil, child, it is the antichrist."

It was a week later and Samantha was stuck over at her grandparent's house. Her dad had work and her mom hated her, so she had nowhere else to go after school. Vanessa was lucky. She got to sleep. Instead of that, Dan had her reading a bible. Gag.

She made a face. "Anyways, can I watch my show now?"

"No," he said, turning his attention back to FOX News. "Keep reading your bible."

Samantha frowned. "When Grandma gets here, I'm going to tell on you."

"…What is it that you want to listen to?"

"On this one channel, they're doing a story on Nicki Minaj-"

"Who?"

"Remember? She's the one that I've named myself after?"

"That rapper? No," he said, frowning at her. "Rap is the downfall of America."

"That's what you said about rock music. So they both are?"

"Yes. Anything that does not have to do with God is-"

"You're really a downer, huh?"

He frowned. "You are lucky that your grandmother would get me if I spanked you."

"Does spanking have to do with God? I don't think so."

"You little-"

"Grandma!"

The front door opened at the right moment. Frowning, Trinity let Samantha hold onto her.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"He's going to spank me!"

"Dan," she said, closing the door. "Honestly."

"What? We spanked the kids."

"Yeah, when they did something wrong."

"She talked back to me!"

Trinity just rolled her eyes, dismissing him. Unbelievable. How could she believe that girl over him? Clearly he was the most reliable!

* * *

><p>I was sleeping, as usual, when I heard a voice.<p>

"Shhh, baby, don't wake Mommy."

I felt cold, small hands on me. They pushed up my shirt up slightly before resting on my bare stomach.

"Are you okay, baby?"

Chris.

"Huh?" He laid his head against my stomach, his ear pressed against my belly. "I can't hear you. Can you talk yet? I'll teach you."

"Chris."

He froze.

"What are you doing?" I looked at him.

"Talking to the baby," he said, removing his hands and head. "I thought we should talk. I'mma be its brother. Big brother Chris!"

I smiled at him. "Where's Daddy?"

"Work."

"Where's Lance?"

"Homework," he said, frowning. "He's got too much work. I don't like it."

"I doubt he does either."

"Yes! Says he loves school," Chris told me, frowning. "Used to love me."

"Shhh," I said, running a hand down his face. "Chris, you just need a friend your own age."

"Where?"

"Well, I can't just find you one," I told him, frowning.

"…Bill."

"Hmmm?"

"This is Bill," he said, pointing to nothing. "Bill is yellow. Bill is funny. Bill is my best friend."

Great. Tyler talks to himself and Chris sees imaginary people. Can I go ahead and say that Fang's got some messed up genes?

* * *

><p>Lucas was outback, practicing flying. After awhile, he had to teach himself how to fly, using only the one time his father had tried to teach him as reference. He knew that his parents were probably skilled fliers, but they never flew now.<p>

"I wanna be like him," James said as Lucas flew by overhead.

"Don't let Dad see him," Cody mumbled, continuing to draw on the sidewalk with chalk. "Told him not to be flying in the day, people might see him."

"Fang went to work."

Cody shrugged, not looking up.

"I wanna fly," Jason said, pulling off his shirt. Cody did not have wings, but Jason did. They were black, like Fang's in most every way.

"Put your shirt back on," Cody told him.

"No. Just because you're fat and no one wants to see you, don't mean that I am," he said, running into the middle of the yard. He jumped, trying to flap his wings like he had seen his older brother do. He got half an inch of the ground before fall back down.

"You're not going to be able to do it," Cody told him, finishing his drawing. "Now come on. Let Lucas do whatever and come inside."

"No."

Cody groaned. Tyler and Tabitha could go anywhere in the neighborhood, as long as they told Max first. Lucas could go to any house on the street, after telling someone, but not down to the old park or the library that were a few blocks away. Cody and James had a four house radius unless told otherwise. Unlike Cody and James, Neo and Jason could not even go outside alone. They had to have one of the older kids with them before they even went to go get the mail. Lance and Chris weren't allowed to begin to think about going outside unless Max or Fang was with them. That was alright for them, though, because they only really liked playing with Max and Fang.

"Well, I'm not going to sit out here and watch you, Jason. Neither is James."

"Lucas can watch me," Jason said, taking off running again. He would learn to fly if it killed him…or Cody and James for leaving him outside when Max found out. One or the other.

* * *

><p>Damien sighed, pulling up to Luther's house.<p>

"Come on, S- Nicki."

She smiled, getting out of the car. Damien got Vanessa out before leading the way.

"Did you have fun today?" Damien asked, opening the front door.

"Yeah," she said as she followed him into the house. "Do I have to go take a bath now?"

"Yep," he said as she ran off. Sighing, Damien took Vanessa to the room that he was staying in and laid down, putting his baby next to him.

Vanessa made a noise, staring up at her father. He seemed sad today. Though, it's not like she really understood this whole emotion thing yet. She just knew that he wasn't his normal self and that must mean that he's sad.

"Hi, baby," he mumbled, kissing her head. "Are you happy today?"

She started fussing a little. His tone was making her upset.

"Shhh." He ran a hand down her face. "Stop it, baby. Daddy's right here."

But why was he sad? He got up and took her to the room that she was using. He tried to make it as nice for her as possible, but it was hard. This house screamed depression, something you can never mask.

After putting her to bed, he went back to his room to sleep off this funk he had woken up with.

"Daddy?"

He didn't move. "What? Do you need food? I thought that they fed you?"

"They did," she said, staring at him from the doorway. "Are you okay?"

"Baby, you're not supposed to worry about me."

"But are you?"

He sat up. "I'm just sad, Samantha."

She didn't correct him on the name choice. "Why, Daddy?"

He sniffled. "I miss Mommy."

Samantha frowned. "But isn't this good?"

"What?"

"Mom doesn't want us, so she's happy. I don't want someone always yelling at me, so I'm happy. You don't want her to hate us and she can't if she's not here, so you're happy. We're all happy, Dad. Right?"

"No, baby," he said, shaking his head. "Not right. It's not right to be happy that you're mom doesn't want us."

"What about you? Your real mom didn't want you, but you were happy with your new mom," she said. "Can't you just find me a new mom?"

"No, Samantha," he said, frowning at her. "You don't think that, if I could, I would have wanted to know my real mother? I would have loved to have met her, but I never got the chance. And if it wasn't for you and Nessa, I would be with your mom right now."

She took a step back. "So I'm making you sad?"

"What?" He jumped up and ran over to her, hugging the girl to him. "Of course not, Samantha. Never. Nothing you will ever do could cause this. I'm just standing up for you. It's me and your mom's fault, not yours. Never yours. Okay?"

She nodded, though she still felt a little bad. If she wasn't here, Daddy would feel better. He said it himself. He would be with Mommy and be happy…if she wasn't here.

"I love you, Sam," he said, getting down on his knees in front of her. "Okay? More than I love anyone, except for your sister. You and here both share number one, alright? I'm going to do what's best for the two of you. It supersedes my needs, Cameron's needs, and even Peter's needs. Okay?"

"Yeah," she said as he hugged her. "I don't want you to be sad, though."

"Don't worry about me," he said, pulling back to stare at her. "Trust me, the things your mom does to me don't even make the top hundred of the worst things. You, your sister, and your mom though make top three, every time. Alright?"

"Okay."

"And I'm sorry if I can't be happy about this, Sammy, but that doesn't mean that I'm going back to your mom. Not unless she starts to treat you better."

She frowned, looking down at the ground. "So you'll go back to her?"

"Not until you tell me I can," he said, hugging her again. "Never without you wanting it. You know that, right? If she's too much for you, you just tell me. I'll make it to where she never hurts you again."

"Like now?"

"Like now."

She hugged him back. "Don't cry, Daddy."

"I'm not."

"I mean when I go to bed. Mom's not worth it."

He glanced at her face. "No, she's not."

* * *

><p>Cameron was watching TV, when Peter suddenly jumped up. He ran out of the room. Sighing, she got up to get him. Now she knew how much Damien must hate her. Now that she was taking care of her own needs, she knew how stupid and time consuming they all were.<p>

When she found the cat, he was curled up on the coffee table. Sighing, she picked him up to take him back into the bedroom with her. Then she saw what he had been laying on top of.

"One missed message," Cameron mumbled, picking up her phone. As she started up the stairs, she played it, expecting Max. She didn't know, of course, that Max had slept the whole day away and had forgotten about leaving her the daily message that she normally did. Instead, it was Damien.

"Cammie? Hey. Uh…Vanessa was laughing again today. And Sam was nicer. Anyways, I know that we haven't talked in a long time, but please call me," he begged. "It's been months, Cameron. I thought we were in love? I mean, even if you don't love me anymore, at the very least, you should still know that you've loved me at one point and that you take care of the ones that you've loved. I don't know where to go from here, Cameron, but if we're going to divorce, you need to talk to me. If we're not, you really need to talk to me. Just talk to me… Uh-oh. Nessa's crying. I have to go. I'll talk to you later. I love you, Cameron. Goodbye."

She frowned, laying her phone on her dresser before getting back into bed, setting Peter in Damien's spot.

"Goodnight, Peter," she said, turning off the TV. "I love you."

In the dim light that the digital clock gave off, Cameron was able to see some of the pictures on the dresser. They were off her, Samantha, one of Vanessa, and a few with Max's kids in it. Then there was one of her and Tommy, the only one that she could stand to still keep up. As she stared at it, she tried hard to remember how his voice sounded, but it was getting harder and harder every day. It had been so long… Though, there was one dead person's voice that she would never forget.

"Do you ever think about your mom, Peter?" She asked the cat, who was laying there, watching her. "I mean, you had one too and you don't need her, right? Damien's stupid. He's trying to force me to be someone I'm not. I'm not the motherly type, never planned to be."

Peter just stared at her.

"Okay, yes, I did plan on having a daughter one day, named Samantha, but don't look at me like that, Peter. She's not what I wanted."

The cat started licking his paw.

"No," she sighed. "I guess that maybe you're right. It's just…she's not Damien's kid, Peter. Why does he like her so much?"

The cat yawned, stretching a little.

"Alright, alright, so maybe his mom taught him to love kids that aren't your own, and his whole trashy step family, but still! I'm his wife, Peter."

The cat's tail twitched as he watched a fly buzz around the room.

"I know," Cameron sighed. "You're not my kid, but I love you a lot, but you're a cat. I know, you don't think so, but you are."

What was wrong with her? Peter closed his eyes. She had never talked this much.

"Well…goodnight, Peter. I guess you kind of helped me. You think it's okay that I don't like my mom, right? And that I don't like Samantha? Huh? Or Vanessa?" She sighed. "I just don't see why you should love someone because they're family. That's just stupid. You should love someone for who they are, not what they are. Right?"

The cat started to drift off.

"I love you, Peter," she mumbled, closing her own eyes. As she fell asleep, she couldn't help, but feel a little uneasy. She was right about family. Right? Of course. Besides, she had Peter. What more did she need?


	27. Chapter 27

Broken

Chapter 27

"Happy Halloween, Fox," Chris said to the cat. Today was Tuesday, so all the other kids were at school.

"Don't bother the kitty," Fang told Chris as he sat down in the chair. Max was at work today so he was stuck at home with his youngest.

"I'm not," Chris whined.

"Alright, alright. Just shut up."

Chris giggled, going back to playing with the cat. "I'mma get a lot of candy, Fox. Aren't you happy for me? Yeah?"

Fang sighed, closing his eyes. "Chris, wanna take a nap?"

"Nope," he said, still petting the cat. "What are you gonna be for Halloween, Daddy?"

"Nothing," Fang said, turning on the TV. "Did Ty take out the trash today?"

"No," Chris said, shaking his head. "Mommy did. Not supposed to tell you though, because you might yell at Tyler. Not his fault, Mommy said. Tyler's special. Be nice to him."

Fang shook his head. Why did Max always protect Tyler? "I won't tell that you told, Chris."

"Thank you," he said, though he was actually talking to Bill. Bill had given him a hug, something that Lance was too busy to do now. Who needed Lance anyways?

* * *

><p>Tyler was not looking foreword to Halloween. He didn't really look foreword to any day anymore, but this one especially. He was at the age where trick-or-treating was questionable, so most just went to a party or something. Tyler had never been to a party, as he had never been asked, so he was very shocked last Friday when one of Tabitha's friends, McKinley asked him to go to hers.<p>

Immediately it sent up red flags, because obviously it was a joke. But what if it wasn't? It didn't matter though. He wouldn't go anyways. Max would probably faux sickness tonight and he would be needed to take one or two of the younger boys trick-or-treating. That or pass out candy. Really, it all depended on whether Tabitha would do it or not.

"Hey, Tyler, can you help me out with something?"

He glanced up. "What?"

Adeem smiled at him. "I need to get some money. Your sister sort of came up short on the money she loaned me."

He looked back down at the paper that he was drawing on. It was actually class work, but he wasn't going to do it. No way.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"You should loan me some money," Adeem told him. The teacher, Mr. Washington, was busy at his desk, eating. He normally just let the class do whatever they wanted.

"Why?"

"Maybe because I'm actually nice to you?"

"You're not nice to me," Tyler said, still not looking up. "You just don't bother me. There's a difference."

He frowned at him. "What? Do you want me to hangout with you or something?"

Tyler finally looked up, now slightly pissed off. "What makes you think that I need you to hangout with me?"

"Look, I was just asking for you to loan me some money. No need to get all pissed at me, freak."

Tyler shoved his desk into Adeem, who was standing in front of it. "I'll get what I want at you."

"Want to repeat that?"

Tyler stood up. "_Estás __mierda __sin valor_."

"English, dumbass?"

"I called you worthless shit, towelhead."

"Hey!" Mr. Washington stood up, setting his sandwich down. "Do we have a problem back there?"

Adeem stared at Tyler before walking away. He couldn't get in trouble, not so soon. "Problem? Not for me, no."

Tyler sat back down, not saying anything at all. A minute later, the room was abuzz with whispers. Let them talk. He'd kick any of their asses any day.

* * *

><p>Tabitha was livid when she got home. I was just tired and sore. Sleeping on the counter is starting to screw with my neck.<p>

"-and he can't just go around, picking fights with my boyfriend," she went on. Ugh. Boarding school…

"Why did you bother him, Tyler?" I asked when it was clear that Fang didn't care. He was helping Lance put on his costume. He was going to be a wizard.

"I didn't," Tyler said. "He was asking me for money."

"Oh, whatever," Tabitha said, making a face at him. "Everyone knows that you have no money."

"Yes, I do," he said. "I'm just not stupid enough to give it to him."

I frowned. "Tabitha, did you give him your money? Did I not tell you that you couldn't?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, going over to the stairs.

"Don't you walk away from me, Tabitha."

"I'm just shocked that you were awake long enough to yell at me."

"Fang."

"Tabitha, get your ass back here and finish whatever you're talking about," Fang said before looking at me. "Like that tactic better?"

"Why are you mad at me?" I asked, frowning at him.

"Because you're always on her case for no reason," he said, handing Lance his wand before moving away from him. "Just leave her alone, alright? God."

"Oh, right, I forgot, she does no wrong. My bad."

"I didn't say that."

"Might as well have! Every time I try to get her in trouble, you always have a freaking defense for it. What's the point of me even having an opinion on her at all?"

"Shut up, Max," he said, grabbing Jason's monster mask and forcing it on him.

"No, Fang, you shut up."

"Why do you have to blow everything up?"

I wasn't even in the mood for a sex joke.

"Me? You're the one that started this, Fang," I said.

"Then I'm ending it. Shut the fuck up and leave Tabitha alone."

"Oh, you can say fuck? Fine. Fuck you, Fang. Fuck you and your hypocrisy."

With that, I got up and started out of the house.

"Oh, runaway, Max," Fang called after me. "Bitch."

* * *

><p>Tyler got very mad as Max left. "Take that back!"<p>

"What?" Fang looked at Tyler, who was still standing next to his sister in front of the couch.

"You can't just call her that," Tyler said, scowling at his father. "Take that back, right now."

Fang rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Go away, Tyler."

He had gone back to Jason, when he felt a little pain in his arm. He turned again. Tyler had punched him.

"Take it back," Tyler repeated.

"What is your problem?" Fang pushed him back when Tyler ran at him again. "Go to your room. Now!"

"No," Tyler said. "Not until you take it back. You are not just going to say things like that."

"What are you doing? Trying to fight me?" Fang snorted, shaking his head a little. "What did I even say?"

"You called Max a bitch," Neo said, staring at Fang. "That isn't very nice."

Lance stroked the fake beard Fang had put on him. "Yes…It was a very bad thing to say."

Chris nodded, though he wasn't sure what a bitch was. "Bill said that he'll beat you up too!"

Fang looked at Tabitha, but she just shrugged.

"It was kind of rude," she told him before walking up the stairs.

When did all of his kids turn on him?

* * *

><p>When I got back to the house, it was already dusk, so there were tons of little kids out. It was about half way into the hour where only little kids trick-or-treated, and they almost all had the same costume. Ghost, witch, or princess.<p>

Inside the house, Tyler was on the couch, watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Jason was there too.

"Mommy!" He ran over to me, holding his empty bag and monster mask in his hand. "You're home."

"Yeah," I said. "Why-"

Jason cut me off, beginning to laugh. On the TV, Charlie was saying 'I got a rock', which was apparently hilarious. Once that was over, Jason was all serious again.

"Dad called you a bad word," he said. "So I said that I wasn't going to go trick-or-treating with him."

"Baby," I said, kissing his head. "You didn't need to do that. Now I have to take you."

"Nope," he said, going to sit down in the chair. "I'm not gonna go. I don't wanna."

"Oh, yes you do," I told him. "Come on."

"No," he said.

"Fine," I said, heading to my bedroom. "You better be passing out candy, Tyler."

He just grunted at me. Ugh. Jason followed me. I sat down on the bed, and he got up there too, laying down with his head in my lap. Well, now I can't lay down!

"Baby, are you sure you don't want to go?" I asked, stroking his head. I needed to get him and the other boys a haircut.

"Yeah," he said, closing his eyes.

If I had to pick on of my kids that I spend the least time with, it would be Jason. He wasn't very loving most of the time and would rather do something besides hangout with his mom. Right now though, more than likely because Fang and the other boys, save Tyler, weren't around, he was perfectly alright with cuddling with me.

"You won't get any candy," I told him.

"I'll eat some of Neo's."

I smiled a little. "How's school been going, Jay?"

"Good," he said, cuddling into me. "Mom?"

"What?"

"Do you not like Tabitha?"

"I love Tabitha."

"Does Dad not like you?"

"He loves me."

"I love Tyler, but I don't like him."

"Well, that's you and Tyler."

"You think that Dad could hit you?"

"What?" I looked down at him. "No."

"Oh."

"Why did you ask that, Jason?"

"Scottie's dad hits his mom."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but now his mom and dad aren't together," Jason told me. "His dad moved away and he don't see him anymore. Ain't fair. His dad wasn't hitting him or nothing. Only his mom. Now he can't see him, all because of her."

I frowned down at him. "Jason, that's not right to think of it like that. He can't see his dad because his dad did wrong."

"Yeah, but only to his mom. It'd be fair if his dad couldn't see his mom, but it's not fair that he can't see his dad now."

"His dad did something bad and now he has to pay for it."

He glanced up at me without moving his head from my lap. "If dad hit you, would you make it to where he couldn't see me anymore? Because then I'd hate you forever."

"Now, you stop that, Jason," I said, looking ahead again. "You know that you'd never hate me. And, to start with, your dad would never hit me."

"Not supposed to say bad words either, but he does," Jason said, closing his eyes. "Why do you fight so much?"

Because Fang is an ass. "We don't."

"Yes," he said. "You fight a lot more than most of my friends' parents. Course, you guys aren't divorced."

"See? Fight or divorced, take your pick."

"Sam's pretty happy with her mom and dad's divorce."

"They are not divorced, Jason. They're just going through some stuff."

"Sam tells everyone that they are," he told me. "She's really happy with it too."

"That's because Samantha is messed up."

"How?"

"You know, Jay," I sighed. "She's just not right because Cameron's not right. Don't go around telling anyone that I said that either."

"I won't," he said, giggling a little. "Am I your favorite, Mommy?"

No. "Of course, Jay. We didn't even want Chris, you know. We knew that we had perfection when we had you, but you know your dad."

He giggled. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

><p>It wasn't very far into November when Cameron was forced to deal with her problems whether she liked it or not.<p>

It was around five in the afternoon when Damien pulled up to the house. He went to the door and started banging.

"Cameron! I know you're in there. Let me in. Now!"

Groaning, she finally opened the door after letting him stand out there for a few minutes. "Look, I don't want to-"

"I don't care," he said, pushing his way in.

"Hey! Are you even-"

"I don't have time for you," he said, running up the stairs to their bedroom.

"Damien, what are you doing?" She closed the door before following him. "You can't just come in here, you know."

"Shut up," he said. He was digging through the closet.

"What are you doing?" She asked, crossing her arms. "I want you out."

"I just need my suit," he said, pulling it out.

"For what?" She asked, her interest slightly sparked. As they stood there, she took a moment to look his over. He hadn't been shaving and there were circles under his eyes. He was probably up with the baby…but maybe…could he have been up worrying about them? No, that was just her.

"My granddad died."

She frowned. "Sara's father? I thought that he was already dead."

"No, Trinity's dad," he said, going over to his dresser to get out a tie. "I'm leaving with Mom and Dad to go down to his funeral, so sorry if I don't care enough to deal with you."

She frowned. "You're the one who walked out on me."

"And? I'm trying to fix it, but you never answer my calls, won't meet up for dinner or something. You fucking changed the locks on me."

She looked away. "You just cursed."

"I think that God can forgive me for fucking getting angry when you won't give me the Goddamn time of day to fix this shitty marriage!"

Again, her eyes found his. "You act like I chose this, Damien."

"Maybe, because you kind of did when you-" He stopped himself. "Look, I have to go, alright?"

"No, not alright," she said, blocking the doorway. "You wanted to talk, well now I'm here to talk. Talk, Damien."

"Not now," he hissed, frustrated with her. "Cameron, I need to get back to my mom's. We're leaving in the morning and she' really upset and-"

"Damien, he is freaking dead. I think that me, who's still breathing, is a little bit more important."

"I've tried, Cameron, but you didn't want to talk. Now is not the time."

"And why not?" She asked. "We're both here, aren't we? What's stopping us? You don't leave until the morning, right? Then talk to me. There's a lot of time until then, Damien."

He put his suit down on the bed. "Fine. Talk."

"Me? You're the one that wants to talk."

He groaned. "I do not have time for this."

"You don't have time for our marriage?"

"No, I don't have time for you," he said. "And what marriage? I haven't see you in months! You haven't see our daughters in months! Cameron, honestly."

She looked away. "Well, I've seen Samantha, so-"

"What?"

She shrugged. "You guys were eating at some restaurant. I was too. I was in the bathroom and she was too."

"What did you say to her?"

"She told me that she's glad that we're both happy and that she hopes that I take Vanessa back soon, because she hates having to turn down her Nicki Minaj videos for her."

Damien smiled a little. "Why didn't you come and talk to me?"

"Because, Damien, I didn't want to."

"What makes right now so different?"

"Well, now I have no choice, but to at least speak to you. I figure that we might as well finish this."

His smile was gone. "Finish?"

"You know what I mean," she said, staring at him. "Are you done with this?"

"No," he admitted. "I never was. But-"

"Well, I'm not either, Damien. And you continuing to say that I'm not taking care of our kids isn't going to fix anything, so find a new argument."

"That's the only argument I need, Cameron," he said, not believing that she was suggesting otherwise. "I don't know if you know this or not, but normal people love their kids. Normal people would put their kids' lives before their own. I mean, I know that your mom was a bitch, but come on. Stop using that as a crutch and just admit it."

"Admit what?"

"That you're cold and heartless. That you only care about yourself. Take your pick."

"I've always been that way, Damien. It's your fault for thinking that I could change, so all the blame goes to you."

"What? You-" He stopped and took a deep breath. "So are you saying that you don't want to try and be good to your daughters? That you don't care about them?"

She took a moment's pause. "I never said that I didn't care about them, but I'm not going to change for them, no."

He shook his head, grabbing his suit off the bed. "Alright, I'm done now. Do what you want."

"What?" She ran to him, holding onto him in an awkward, sideways hug. "No."

"Cameron, get off-"

"No," she said, leaning heavily against him. "You are not just going to walk out on me, Damien Sheer."

"And why not? I've already told you, my daughters come first. If you can't-"

"I'll try, I swear," she said. In a softer voice, in an almost inaudible whisper, she said, "Don't leave me."

"Cameron, stop this," he said, trying to shake her off. "I'm not going to let you treat Samantha bad, alright?"

"Okay."

"Vanessa either."

"Alright."

"And you're going back to therapy. I know that I don't believe in that stuff, but it was kind of helping you when you went, so you're going back."

"Whatever you want, Damien."

He sighed, looking at her. She was kind of making him feel bad. "How have you been? These past few months?"

"Horrible," she mumbled against his shoulder. "I have to buy my own stuff, feed Peter, take out the trash. It's Hell, Damien."

He smiled a little. "Is that what it is?"

"Yes," she said, holding onto him tighter. "Your life sucks."

He laid his suit back down on the bed before turning in her arms and hugging her. "I missed you."

She looked up at him. "I missed you too. A lot."

Damien leaned down and kissed her once. Then again. And again. And again, and again, and again.

* * *

><p>"You think that when we get older, we'll still be best friends?"<p>

Tyler opened his eyes. "What?"

"I'm not talking to you!" Chris frowned at his brother. "I'm talking to Bill."

Tyler frowned. "Why are you and Bill in my room, Chris?"

"Because me and Lance aren't friends no more," Chris said. "I hate him. So I traded room with Lucas. He said that he wanted to be the oldest in the room so that he controls stuff."

"Like what? You and Lance don't even have a radio in your room, much less a TV."

Chris shrugged, laying down on Lance's old bed. "I think that me and Bill will like it here."

Tyler frowned. "Why aren't you and Lance friends anymore?"

"He's mean."

"What did he do?"

Chris frowned. "He made a bunch of new friends at school. So I traded with Lucas, because you don't have any friends. We can share Bob though."

"I thought his name was Bill?"

"Bob is Bill's twin. Like you and Tabby! Only Bill and Bob like each other," Chris said.

"Great…"

Christopher looked at his oldest living brother with interest. "How come you don't gots a shirt on?"

"I don't sleep with one on."

"Oh. Do I have to?"

Tyler shrugged. "You can sleep naked for all I care."

Naked? Chris was in heaven. After all, every boy under the age of six loved to be naked. It was so freeing and stuff. He started to take off his socks.

"Bill don't like to be naked," Chris told Tyler as he undressed. "He thinks that it's nasty. He went away."

Tyler closed his eyes again. "Where does he go when he goes away?"

"Home."

"You mean they don't live here?"

"Oh, no, Tyler," Chris said, pulling off his shirt. He was finally left in his Spiderman underwear. He pulled those off too. "They live at their own house. They just don't like being there."

"Why not?"

Chris sat his naked butt down on Lucas's sheets, giggling. He farted… Then he sobered, remembering that he was telling a story. "Their mommy and daddy died. It's really, really sad. That's why they like to stay with me."

Tyler glanced at him. He was really naked. Sigh. "Those are Lucas's sheets, you know."

"I know."

* * *

><p>"Lucas, I need you to-" I stopped, opening the door completely. "What are you guys doing?"<p>

Tyler was laying in his bed, looking half asleep, while Chris was sitting on Lucas's bed…naked. The horror.

"Me and Lucas traded rooms, Mommy," Chris told me, swinging his feet off the edge of his brother's bed. "Tyler gets to sleep without a shirt on, so I get to be naked. Isn't that great?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Put your clothes back on. And you are going back to your own room."

"No, Mommy," he said, now whining. "Tell her, Tyler. Tell her that you want me here."

"What?" Tyler turned to look at me.

"Do you want him in here?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," he said, closing his eyes again.

"Naked?"

"It's not a perk, but it's acceptable."

I sighed. "Chris, please put back on your clothes."

"No," he whined. "Daddy!"

"Fang," I called. "Come here for a minute."

He came down from the attic. "What?"

"Chris and Lucas traded rooms, which is fine, I guess, but tell Chris to put back on his clothes."

"No," Chris said. "I like being nakie. It's fun."

Fang rolled his eyes. "Fine. You can be naked in two places. You and Lance's room and the bathroom. But as long as you stay in here, you have to wear clothes."

Chris jumped up and ran out of the room, still naked mind you, all the way back to his old room. When I got there, he was explaining the new rule to Lance.

"-naked as long as we're in this room and bathroom. Can I come back?"

Lance pulled off his shirt. "I never said you had to leave."

"No," Lucas whined. "Mom-"

"Sorry, Luke," I said as he walked back out of the room. I looked back at Chris and Lance. "Why do you want to be naked?"

"It's fun," Chris said, laying down in his own bed. Lance nodded, though he didn't get completely naked. He stayed in his underwear.

"Fine, but don't leave this room naked. And you're not allowed to be outside of the house, okay?"

They both nodded. I left them alone after that. I don't think it's that big of deal. Lucas had an obsession with it when he was two or three. It's better than when Lance was obsessed with biting, so I guess it's alright.

* * *

><p>Damien ran a hand down Cameron's back as she cuddled deeper into him. It wasn't until his phone rang that he was brought out of his abstractions.<p>

"I've got it," Cameron said, standing. Damien took a moment to look at her naked as she walked over to his discarded jeans to get his cell phone. "Hello? Oh, uh- Wait-"

"What?" Damien sat up a little, the covers stopping at his waist. "Who was it?"

"Your mother," Cameron said, frowning as she put his phone on the dresser. Damien glanced at her as she got back into bed.

"What did she say?"

"I answered and she just said that she was sorry for bothering us and that you could drive yourself down to the funeral, if you wanted to go still."

"I'm going," he told her as she cuddled against him.

"No one's stopping you," Cameron said. "Who's keeping the girls?"

"Sam's going, but Max and Fang said that they'd watch Nessa. Now though-"

"I'll take her," Cameron told Damien, closing her eyes. "You should probably just go down there with your parents. What time do they leave in the morning?"

"Eight. Funeral is the day after tomorrow."

"Samantha wants to go?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Make sure that she behaves."

"I always make sure that she behaves."

Cameron kissed his chest. "Are you going to go now?"

"I think that I need to. I need to get my suit to my mom so that she can iron it for me."

Cameron thought about offering to do it for him, but found better of it. Ew, that would take work.

"When you get back in town, you're coming home, right?"

"Of course," he mumbled, kissing her head. "I love you, Cameron."

She laid there for a second, thinking before responding. "I love you too. And…I'm sorry."

"Me too."

"For what?"

"For whatever you think that I did."

She rolled her eyes. "Peter missed you."

"No, he didn't," Damien said, glancing out of the corner of his eye at his cat, who was sitting on the windowsill. "He loved every second that I was gone."

This was true. Peter was not at all pleased when he walked into the room a few minutes ago and found that he was back. The cat had been taking a long nap in the living room since around nine this morning. When he awoke, Damien was back, in his spot on the bed. The nerve of some people. You'd think that Damien was more important to Cameron than Peter.

* * *

><p>When Damien got to his mother's house, she nor his father mentioned the fact that he had spent longer than needed at his wife's house. Instead, they just told him that Vanessa needed to be take to Max's. He said that she was going to Cameron, actually. Then he asked if James was going, and found out no. James wasn't all that close to his real family, really just Max's and Cameron and Damien.<p>

The car trip to the funeral was mainly filled with Samantha talking. If she noticed her father's extended stay with her mother the night before, she wasn't saying anything. The day that they got there, Trinity wanted to go be with her mother, alone. Dan went to go drink, so they were left in the hotel room, just the two of them.

"When Grandpa gets back with the car, I'll take you to go see some of your cousins," Damien offered.

"Okay," Samantha said, staring at him. "Dad?"

"What?"

"Did you like Grandma's dad?"

"Yes, very much so."

"Did you call him your grandpa?"

"He was my granddad," Damien said before getting off the bed that he was on. "Sam, come here."

She stood in front of him, staring up at his face. "What?"

Damien got onto his knees in front of her, so that he was level with her. "Sam, I've talked to Mom."

"Really?" She stared into his eyes.

As she looked at him, in her mind, he looked just like her. After Cameron put the seeds of doubt that Damien was her father, she started looking for similarities. In her mind, their noses were the same, even though no one else probably knew that. She had his eyes. Obviously, she got her face from him. Now that she had decided that Cameron was her stepmother, she kind of wanted to meet her real mother.

"Yeah," Damien said, looking at her. God, she looked like Cameron. "I was just thinking that-"

"Can I meet my real mom?"

Damien frowned. "Cameron is your real mom."

"Come on, Daddy, I know that you're lying."

"No, sweetie, I'm not."

"Seriously?" She gapped at him. "I feel lied to, you know."

In more ways than she knows… "Well, we've never told you otherwise, so I don't know why you would feel that way."

"I just do."

He sighed. "Anyways, I was talking to her, and, well…I think that I'm going to move back in with her, Sam."

"…Really?"

He nodded, staring at her. "Yeah. Not until you tell me that we can, though."

"Oh."

"So…do you want to?"

She stared at him. "Why do I have to choose?"

"Well, I don't want her hurting you, so yeah, baby. I told her that she has to be nice to you for us to come back, but if you don't think that she can-"

"Do you want to go back?"

"It's not about me."

"But do you?"

"Yeah, Sammy."

"Well…if we go back and I want to leave again, can we?"

"If she's yelling at you again and stuff, of course. I'm not going to let her treat you bad, Sam."

"Nicki," she mumbled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "We can go back, Dad."

"Alright," he said, hugging her back. "If you're sure."

She smiled at him, kissing his head, as if he were the child. "You have to make her call me by my proper name though, Dad. Nicki, okay?"

"Okay," he mumbled. "Whatever you want."

* * *

><p>"Are you sad that your great-grandpa died?"<p>

James shrugged as he and Cody worked on their science project. "I met him once. Remember? You were there. At the reunion?"

"Yeah," Cody said, writing on the poster board. "Hey, do you know where the new baby's going?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Max hasn't said."

"Better go with Lance and Chris."

"Well, they'll probably move Lance in with Jay and Neo and put it with Chris."

"Unless it's a girl."

"Yeah," James said, nodding his head. "On Saturday, do you want to go with me to my grandparent's?"

"Yeah," Cody said. He liked going over to Dan and Trinity's. Trinity always made them food, even when they weren't hungry. Mom never made food. "I hate Mrs. Hudges."

James nodded. "Yeah. Worst teacher ever."

"I know," he said, pasting a picture on the project. "I've never had a project before. She acts like we're in fifth grade or something."

"Yeah," James said. "Did you see what Max was watching today?"

"No, what?"

"This nanny show. She said that she's gonna start putting us in timeout."

"She always says that."

"Yeah, but now she said that she's serious."

"We never do anything anyways," Cody said. "Besides, you just cry and she starts to feel bad about yelling at us."

James smiled. "I am pretty good at crying."

"Yeah," Cody said. "Did you see Chris and Lance today? They're going naked now. It's nasty."

"Yeah," James agreed. "Nasty."

"And Dad's just going to let them!"

"As long as we don't got to see them, I don't care."

"It's all Tyler's fault. Chris said that he told him that he could sleep naked. Now he thinks that he should be naked all the time."

James shook his head. "Max said that we need to get haircuts too."

Cody looked at his friend. "I like long hair."

"I want one," James said. "Mine is getting too long."

"You've, like, got nappy hair."

"No! My hair is not nappy," James said. "It's just…fuzzy."

Cody giggled. "Yeah. Fuzzy."

"Yours is all…curly."

Cody shook his head, making his long, curly hair shake. "Like a dog."

"Yeah," James said, smiling at his friend. Tyler and Lucas hated each other, Neo and Jason had began to ignore each other, Lance and Chris hated each other, and Tabitha was alone, but James and Cody would never fight. Ever. They were best friends forever…if a boy could say that. James didn't want to sound gay or anything… Max said that nothing was wrong with that, but he wasn't so sure. His grandpa and Fang sure made it sound like there was a lot wrong with it. Besides, he could never trust Max's judgments. It was, after all, her fault that Tyler ruined his friendship with Alex...


	28. Chapter 28

Broken

Chapter 28

Samantha didn't want to go home, really. Luther's house was huge and she still had to keep her music videos turned down. At home it would be horrible.

"Are you sure?" Damien asked her as they pulled up to the house. She glanced at him. In reality, she didn't want to go home, but she knew that her dad wanted to.

"Yeah," she said, nodding her head a little. Damien smiled at her before getting out of the truck. He got a few of the bags.

"Can you get some of those, Nicki?" He asked, walking to the door. Samantha took her time as she grabbed the bags before slowly walking into the house. Her mother was on the couch, watching TV. Samantha looked at her, but she didn't even acknowledge her.

"Thanks," Damien said as Samantha sat his bag down in his room. "Take Nessa's bag to her room for me, but try not to wake her, alright?"

She nodded, walking away. After putting the baby's bag in her room, she went into her own room.

"Wow! Dad, is it mine? Is it?"

Damien walked into the room. "What?"

"The stereo," she said, staring at it. "And look, Pink Friday!"

She picked up the CD and put it into the stereo. "Is it?"

"I don't know," he said, frowning. "I didn't buy it."

Vanessa started crying and he left to go tend to her. Running from the room, Samantha headed down the stairs.

"Is it mine?"

"Shut up," Cameron told her, frowning. "I'm trying to watch-"

"Did you buy it for me?"

"I said shut-"

"Cameron," Damien warned, walking down the stairs with the now fine Vanessa.

"Yes, Samantha, I bought you the stupid stereo," she said. Samantha smiled, rushing over to her. She gave her mother the best hug she could since she was still laying on the couch.

"It's Nicki, but that's okay," Sam said, letting her go. "It's mine though? For keeps?"

"Yes," she said, having to bite her tongue to keep from yelling at her to get lost.

"Great!" She ran back up the stairs. Damien smiled a little.

"See? It's good to be nice," he said, going to sit down in the chair. Vanessa leaned against him, happy that he was back. Grinning down at her, he asked, "Did you miss me while I was gone? Huh? Daddy went to a funeral. Yeah."

"How was it, anyways?" Cameron asked. They had talked on the phone last night, but he hadn't been in a very good mood. Apparently, his mom had been very uptight. Her father had just passed, after all.

"Alright, I guess," he said, shrugging a little. "How were you, Vanessa? Did you and Mommy have fun?"

"No," Cameron answered for him.

"See? That's exactly what I'm talking about, Cameron."

"What? It's the truth," she said, going into defensive mode. "She cried a lot and wasn't happy. I think that she missed you."

"Oh," he said, looking back down at the baby. She was making little noises. "Did you miss me, Nessa?"

She looked up at him and smiled. Giving her a kiss, he said, "She just doesn't know you that well, Cameron. Give it some time."

"Right," she said, rolling her eyes.

* * *

><p>I was sleeping when something wet touched my ear. I pushed it away.<p>

"Why is Tank in bed with me?"

"It's me, baby."

I opened my eyes to see Fang in bed with me. "What do you want?"

He went back to my ear, not answering the question. I sighed, allowing him to.

"What did you do that you want forgiveness for?"

He ignored me.

"Was it just for being a jerk for the past month?"

Fang pulled away from my ear and just pulled me to him. "I just wanted to kiss you."

"You and your freaky ear fetish."

"Me and my freaky Max fetish."

I leaned up and kissed him before settling against him. "My stomach is good today."

He rubbed my tummy. "That's good."

"Yeah."

I glanced up at him. "Do you think that we can do twins?"

Fang held me to him. "We have before. And it's kind of late now."

I sighed. "This is our last baby."

"You mean babies," he said, running a hand down my stomach.

"You looked really shocked yesterday, when I told you."

"We're just running out of room."

"Yeah…" I looked back up at him. "Fang?"

"Hmmm?"

"If these really are our last two…I think that you should get a vasectomy."

"Ha, no."

"Fang."

"No," he said, kissing my head. "I never said that these are our last. You did."

I frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Max, if you think about it, including Kevin, we only really have seven kids. Without him, six. That means that plus these two is nine, or eight without Kevin."

"Thank you, but you're my husband, not math teacher."

He sighed. "I'm just saying that we shouldn't stop until we have a girl."

"Tabitha."

"Another one."

"Fang."

"She's going to be gone soon, Max. I want her to have a sister before she moves out."

"Seeing as she says that's fifteen, I think that we've hit the end of the road."

Fang groaned. "She is not moving out at fifteen. And even if, we still have two years."

"Fang."

He moved to kiss my stomach. "These little ones could be girls, you know."

"They better be. I can't do much more."

He smiled. "I've been thinking about where they're going to go."

"I don't know. You're the one trying to knock me up as many times as that Duggar mom."

He moved back to my ear. Instead of kissing it, he just talked in it. "I think that all those haters that get mad about people having so many kids are just jealous."

"If people hate me, Fang, it's because I'm a bitch."

"You are not," he said, kissing my head. We were silent for another minute or two before I spoke again.

"When we were younger, I hated the people that had a zillion kids."

"What about now?"

"Love them, of course. Except when they think that they're family's better than ours, because that's a lie."

Fang smiled a little. "I couldn't imagine being Damien and Cameron, only having one kid."

"They have two kids and are back together."

"Of course," Fang said. "Damien might have found some _huevos_ for awhile, but she cracked them just as easily."

"You know that means eggs, really."

"That was the point. I was making a reference by saying that she cracked them."

"Sure."

"Max-"

"I have to pee," I told him, pushing him away so that I could stand. I've never had twins before, but already I'm having to pee more than with just one baby. This sucks.

* * *

><p>"I guess you know by now."<p>

Tyler, who was shirtless in his bed, trying to cool down from the heat, glanced at the doorway. "Know what?"

"You know."

"Not really."

"I heard Max and Fang talking yesterday after they got home from the doctor-"

"You call Dad Fang now?"

"-and she's pregnant."

"We all know that."

"With twins."

Lucas, who was on his bed, gasped. "Really?"

Tabitha ignored him, closing the bedroom door behind her as she stepped further into the room. "Do you know what this means, Tyler?"

"That we're probably all doubling up on rooms?"

Tabitha rolled her eyes. "That is part of my point, but not all of it. Tyler, they're trying to make a new family."

He smiled as the air finally turned on again. It was way too hot in here. "What?"

"Think about it. Max is trying to erase us."

He frowned. "What makes you say that? Max loves me."

"How are you so sure?"

"The stuff she buys me, how she always tells me, the way that she looks out for me," he said. "Just because you're a teenage girl, doesn't mean that you have to buy into that teen angst crap, alright?"

"Shut up, Tyler. I just meant…Maybe we should find Lydia."

"Who's that?" Lucas asked.

"Shut up and get out," Tabitha told him.

"No," Lucas said.

"Now."

"It's my room too! And if you make me leave, I'll go tell Mom that you're talking about her."

"Fine, stay," Tabitha said before looking at Tyler. "So will you help me?"

"Help you what? I don't want to find her," Tyler said.

"Huh?"

"You heard me," he said. "I love Max. I think that she's the best mother in the world. I don't care if she has a million more kids. I'll still know that she loves me. I think that it's sad that you feel so unloved that you have to push away the only people that really love you."

"Fine then!" She turned and walked away. "I'll find her all on my own."

"Have fun," he said, closing his eyes again.

After she was gone, Lucas asked, "Is Lydia your mom?"

"No," Tyler said. "Max is my mom."

Lucas took that as a yes. "But, Tyler, you have to meet her!"

"Why?"

"What if she has more kids? Wouldn't you want to meet them?"

"They're probably as screwed up as Tabitha."

"Still. What if you start dating a girl and then you find out that she's your sister?" Then he started snickering. "Oh wait, you're never going to date."

Tyler didn't take it offensively. "That's right. I'm going to marry Alex."

That sobered Lucas up. "You really think so?"

"I know so," he said, rolling onto his stomach. "Either that or I'll just live alone for the rest of my life."

"Alone?"

"Well, here, with Max, but no other woman in my life."

"Except for Tabitha."

"She won't be here much longer," Tyler said, yawning a little. "I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when it's time for dinner. Unless Max makes it. Then I have a stomach ache."

* * *

><p>Damien's first day back in the house and he slept through most of it. When he woke up, Cameron was in bed with him, Vanessa in her lap. She was talking to the baby, so Damien laid still, not wanting to let on that he was awake.<p>

"Well, I told you that would happen," Cameron said to the baby, who was sucking on a pacifier. "Chess is stupid online."

Cameron was on the laptop. Damien frowned. He didn't even know that she knew how to play chess.

"Yeah, I know," Cameron said to Vanessa. "I'm getting better though, huh?"

The baby just stared up at her mom, still sucking away. Cameron was nice, or so her daughter was slowly realizing. The baby patted Cameron's chest, still watching her.

"I quit," Cameron finally said, closing the laptop. Then she looked down at her daughter. "What do you want to do? You want to take a nap with Damien?"

As she was laying the baby down on the bed, she noticed that he was awake. "Hey, Damien."

"Hi."

The baby kicked her feet a little, her pacifier falling out. As soon as she opened her mouth to cry, Cameron picked it up, putting it back in the four month old baby's mouth. When she saw Damien smile at her, Cameron got self conscious.

"What?" She looked away from him.

"Nothing," he said, kissing Vanessa's head. "Nothing at all."

* * *

><p>"Max!"<p>

I sighed, walking up the stairs. "What?"

"Get them out of my room," Tabitha yelled. I walked in there and saw her issue.

"What are these?" Lance asked, holding up one of her bras. Chris, who was next to him, was unwrapping pads and sticking them on the dresser, which the two boys were going through.

"Guys get out," I told them, leaning against the doorframe. I was sleepy. "Wanna come take a nap with me?"

"No," Chris said. "Me and Bill are gonna play with our stickers."

"They aren't stickers," Tabitha yelled at him. Then she turned to me. "See? You get a bunch of kids and then make me watch them while you sleep."

"It isn't my fault that you suck at babysitting," I said, not wanting to fight with her. "Come on, boys."

"No," Lance said, pulling out her underwear. "Girls are weird. There's no superheroes on her underwear. Look, Chris."

"Now," I said, no longer finding them cute. "I'll call Fang."

"He's at work," Lance said before standing. "We'll go nap though. I'm sleepy."

Chris stood up. "Tabitha got boring stickers. No pictures!"

"Clean all this up," I told Tabitha. She made a face at me before slamming the door behind us.

"Wouldn't have happened at boarding school," I called to her.

"Or at Lydia's house!"

I thought about saying something, or asking about what she meant, but Chris took my attention by beginning to cry. He had tripped.

"Are you okay?" I picked him up.

He sniffled, laying his head on my shoulder. "Yeah."

I carried him downstairs and to my bedroom, Lance following. After twenty minutes of laying in bed, they were both sleeping, but I couldn't. I had a hard time sleeping now, even though it was the most appealing thing in the world to me. As I was laying there, I decided to call Fang.

"What, Max?" He answered.

"Are you annoyed with me?"

"Of course not," he said. "I just want to know what you want."

"I'm trying to sleep, but can't."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Sing to me."

"Max."

"Tell me a story."

"Are you serious?"

"No," I said. "Why? Would you have?"

"If we were home, in the bed by ourselves, yes."

"Really?"

"If you really thought that it would help you fall asleep. I mean, come on, it's kind of my fault that you can't. I did get you pregnant."

I frowned. "You sound like you're taking pride in that fact."

"Oh, I am. Trust me, I am."

"It's not that hard," I told him.

"Maybe I'm just good at the whole sex thing," Fang said.

"Fang, the point of sex is to have fun, not be bogged down with annoying, crying things."

"Max, sex is only supposed to be for procreation."

"I hate that word," I said. "Procreation sounds like your giving birth to a devil child or something."

"Well look at our kids."

I smiled a little. "Tabitha yelled at me today. Apparently, I don't take care of the kids I already have."

"…I like that idea that you had before."

"What idea?"

"Boarding school. Her and Lucas."

"Luke? What did he do?"

"I found a bug in my box of important things. I just know that it was his."

I frowned. "What's in that box of yours?"

"You know, my important things."

"Which are?"

"Well, you're always pregnant, so you're too fat to fit in there, so not you."

"Fang."

"You know, just stuff that's important to me. A picture of each kid, that tie that Tabitha bought me your first Christmas here, a marble that Chris gave me one day as an apology after he told me he hated me, Lucas's ultrasound picture-"

"Where'd you get that?"

"Huh?"

"You never wanted anything to do with him. Where did you get it?"

"Max, he's still my son," he said. "Besides, I got it out of your dresser drawer."

"That reminds me, Chris and Lance went through Tabitha's drawer."

"And?"

"They started opening the pads and sticking them on-"

"Max, I do not need to know that."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to think about Tabitha…doing that. It's like you and Tyler doing what he does."

"Fang, he does not do that!"

"Then what does he do with those magazines you keep taking from him?"

"He's holding them for friends."

"What friends, Max?"

"Shut up."

"Are you tired yet?"

"Fang, I'm always tired, I just can't sleep."

"Then stay up until you fall asleep."

"I want to sleep now though!"

Fang sighed. "You are so demanding,"

"Thank you."

"Yeah, well- Uh, baby?"

"Yeah?"

"I have to go," he said. "Bone just walked in drunk."

"Great."

"Yeah. See you tonight, okay?"

"Bye," I said, hanging up. I checked to see if Lance and Chris were still sleeping, which they were, before getting up and walking out of the room. The first person that I saw was Neo, who was playing with toys by himself in the hallway.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Playing."

"Well where's Jay?"

"He called me a fart face."

"Do you want me to yell at him?"

"No," he said, frowning at me. "I don't want you to fight my battles, Max. How could I become a famous army general if I have you do everything for me?"

I looked at his army men strew across the hall. "Well, every big, strong, army general has someone who took care of him as a baby and kid, that still probably does when he comes home to visit."

Neo looked up at me. "Like a mommy?"

"Exactly like a mommy."

Frowning, he turned his vision back to the ground. "I don't have a mommy."

"I could be like your mommy."

"But you gots a lot of other boys to be mommy to," he said, now messing with his toys again.

"That doesn't mean that I don't still have time for you, Neo," I said. Slowly, I sat down on the floor with him. "Let's play army."

"It's not called army, Max," he said, rolling his eyes. "Girls."

"Hey."

"But you can play," he said, sliding the blue men over to me. "You're the blue ones and I'm green. I'm the USA. Who are you?"

"Um…Canada."

He frowned. "Whenever Tyler plays with me, he always makes me be the other country so that he can be USA. He always makes me be Iraq or Iran or Afg…some other word. Then he shoots my people in the head and they're all named Adeem."

I frowned at him. Tyler was nice to the other boys, but he was rare to play with them. For Neo to mention this, Tyler playing with him must be pretty noteworthy to him.

"You like playing with Tyler?"

"He's okay," Neo said, though his face betrayed him. "Sometimes it gets borin' just playing with Jay or by myself."

"Doesn't Fang play with you?"

"Sometimes. He's no fun though, because he only likes to play with action figures."

"You don't like action figures?"

"I do, but I like army too."

"Well, maybe I don't want you to be in the army," I said as I stood all my men up. "Maybe I don't want you out there, almost getting killed."

"Don't worry, Max," he said. "I'm not gonna be in the army."

"You're not?"

"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "I'mma be in the marines."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Better than the stupid army or navy."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do," he said, finally looking at me again. "Ready to play?"

"Of course."

* * *

><p>I was in the living room, watching TV, when Fang got home. It was late, around two in the morning.<p>

"Hey," I said as he walked over to me. Fang gave me a kiss on the lips before going into the kitchen.

"It's late," he told me.

"I can't sleep."

"Come on," he said, walking out with a coke in one hand. "Let's go get in bed."

I followed him, hoping that him being home would help me. "I haven't slept since you woke me up before you left."

"It must have been a long day for you," he said, stripping down to his boxers.

"Yeah."

After we were settled in the bed, Fang said, "You want that story now?"

"Yeah."

"Alright," he said, holding me to him. "Once upon a time, there was a queen."

"I like the story so far."

"Oh, trust me, it gets better," he said. "So anyways, the queen had married into queen hood, and her husband was an amazing king, though she worked him to the bone and nagged him a lot and had an obsession with trying to make him as miserable as possible."

I cleared my throat, making Fang smile toothily.

"But that's another story for another time," he said, kissing my head. "So anyways, the king had kids from a previous marriage, who were brats, though his later kids weren't much better."

"Maybe he has flawed genes."

Fang shushed me before continuing. "Anyways, the queen was very bitchy at times and had suddenly decided that she would do anything in her power to keep the king from his one, true love."

"Which is?"

"Com- Stamps."

"Stamps," I repeated.

"Stamps," he said. "So anyways, she hated his stamps. In fact, she even went as far as to put all of his stamps in the attic and make him be up there when he wanted to play- I mean look at them. Once, though, he found a bug in his important things box and that just pissed him off, but anyways, she hated his stamps."

"Fang, is this going anywhere?"

"Not really," he said. "I just was hoping that you'd fall asleep soon."

I closed my eyes. "It did make me tired, but for another reason."

"What reason would that be?"

"Your voice is so annoying that I want to go to sleep just to get away from it."

Fang just rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p>"-and then the dove brought back a branch, meaning that there was dry land," Damien said, rubbing the stuffed dove against Vanessa's cheek gently. "Then they all lived happily ever after. Now for Jonah and the whale. First I need to find a whale."<p>

Damien reached into the box of stuffed animal's that he had found in the attic and pulled one out. It was a few days later and things were going great…well, okay, but he was being optimistic. Samantha, or Nicki, was happy, so that's all that really matters.

"This is a whale, Vanessa."

The baby stared at him as he spoke. Though he could get annoying sometimes, Daddy was okay.

"Na ba."

"Yeah," he said, letting her grab it. "Then this is Jonah."

He held up a tiger that he was pretending was a man. "He's a really good guy, but God asks him to-"

"What are you doing?" Cameron walked into the room.

"Teaching Nessa about-"

"Where did you get those?"

"These? They were up in the attic," he said, moving so that she could see the box. "A bunch of stuffed animals."

"Beanie Babies," she corrected.

"Huh?"

"They're called Beanie Babies."

"Oh, right, whatever," he said, shrugging. "I just found them when I was up there-"

"Why did you take them?"

"Sam is really selfish," he said, frowning. "I figured that no one was using them, so why not? Why? Were they Tommy's?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "My mom's."

Damien frowned. "Oh."

"She thought that they would make her even richer one day. That they would become valuable or something."

"Beanie Babies?"

She nodded. "A lot of people thought that they'd be collectable one day."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"…So?"

"What?"

"Can I use them?"

"What are you doing with them?"

"Teaching her bible stories."

Of course… "Go ahead. They weren't doing any good up in the attic."

She went away and Damien started again. The next time he was interrupted, it was his oldest.

"What are you doing, Dad?"

He sighed as she came into the room. "Trying to teach Vanessa about the bible."

"…Are those new toys?"

"Nope."

"They look new. I've never seen them."

He frowned at her. "What? Do you want to play?"

"I just don't think some baby should just get new toys when I don't."

"They're not new, Sam. They've just been in the attic."

"Nicki."

Rolling his eyes, Damien went back to Vanessa. Samantha made a face at his back before stomping away. When she got downstairs, she saw her mother on the couch, staring at the TV, which wasn't turned on for once.

"What's wrong with you?" Samantha asked, actually concerned. It was rare to see her mother without the glow of the TV.

"There's nothing on TV."

That was something she had never heard her mother say. "You watch infomercials."

"Even those aren't interesting today."

"Oh."

"Why are you stomping around?"

"He's playing with _her_ again."

"Ugh, I know," Cameron said, moving to lay down.

"That stupid baby. No one, but him even likes it."

"Don't I know it?"

They stared at each other for a second, before Damien yelled from upstairs. He had forgotten it was Friday and Smackdown was on. He came running down the stairs, Vanessa in his arms.

"Sorry, Cam, but I need the TV," he said, sitting down in the chair and turning it on. Samantha walked away without another word to her mother. Had they just been getting along? Ew, no. Of course not. That was impossible. Right?

* * *

><p>"Alright, alright, settle down," Tyler told the younger boys, frowning at them. "If you shut up, this will go faster."<p>

Chris raised his hand.

"What?" Tyler asked.

"I have to go potty."

"Wait until this is over," Lucas told him.

Chris whined, but settled down after Tyler glared at him.

"What are we doing?" Jason asked, picking at a scab he had gotten from trying to skateboard. "I want to go play."

"Yeah," Lance said.

"Anyone who leaves doesn't get a vote in what we're doing," Lucas threatened.

They all shut up.

"Alright," Tyler said, sitting down in front of them. They were out in the garage, holding a family meeting. Well, a boy meeting. Minus Fang. Fox was there in his place, though. "Begin, Lucas."

He stood up, looking at the younger boys. "As we all know by now, Mom is having twins."

James started playing with a toy car he had brought with him, not really concerned with any of this.

"Since there will be two babies, I heard her and Dad talking and they're going to split up Lance and Chris and put them in someone else's room."

Lance gasped. "Not fair!"

"Yeah," Chris said. "I like my room."

"Too bad," Tyler said. "Speak out again and we'll make you sleep outside."

They frowned, but both shut up. As the oldest, what Tabitha said was law. When she wasn't around, however, Tyler was just as important.

"Now, where was I?" Lucas asked. He was taking his time with this because, normally, he got no say in anything. When Tabitha wasn't with them, he became the second in command, though, and got to give the speeches. It was great.

"About splitting Chris and Lance up," Cody reminded.

"Ah, yes," he said, nodding his head. "So, they're not gonna be roomies anymore, so they're going to put in one of our rooms. Tabitha's out, so we didn't invite her here. Plus, she's a girl and would want to control everything."

"Get on with it," Tyler warned.

"So, we're going to vote on where they go. Each person gets one vote. If it comes to a tie, Tyler will be the decider. Younger first. Where do you want to go, Chris?"

He frowned, feeling like crying and peeing. "Um…Tyler's room."

Tyler groaned.

"Alright," Lucas said. "Where do you want Chris to go, Lance?"

"With me."

"Not an option."

"Um…I want him to go where he wants."

Crap, Lucas mouthed, marking it down on the paper. Two for his and Tyler's room.

"Jay, where do you want Chris to go?"

"With Cody," he said, just not wanting him to be with them or where he wanted.

"Neo?" Lucas asked.

"Uh…with James."

"Two for Cody, two for Tyler," Lucas said. "Where do you want him, James?"

"Uh…with Neo."

"Two for Tyler, two for Cody, and one for Neo," Lucas said, glancing at Tyler. "Cody?"

"With Jason," he said, frowning at him.

"All tied up and I choose…Cody," Lucas said. "Chris, you're going to stay with Cody."

He stared crying and ran from the room.

"Crap," Tyler said, frowning. "He's gonna go to Max. Hurry with this vote for Lance, guys. It's between me and Lucas, or Neo and Jason. Lance, you just decide, alright?"

"Uh…you."

"No," Lucas whined as Neo and Jason cheered.

"What if me and Cody decide?" James asked. "Unbiased vote, right?"

"Yes," Tyler said. "Let them choose."

"Neo and Jason!" Cody yelled.

"Yeah," James said, sneering at them. "Payback."

Neo jumped up and ran off. He was almost out of the door when he ran into Max, who had Chris in her arms.

* * *

><p>"What are you guys doing?"<p>

Tyler smiled at me. "Playing."

"Then why did you make Chris cry?" I frowned at him. "He is a baby."

"Yeah," Chris agreed, holding onto me. "A baby."

"And you do not make a baby cry," I reprimanded all of them. "You're all older and need to act so."

"Yeah," Chris agreed, sniffling. "Older."

"A baby alright," Lucas mumbled, frowning.

"What were you really doing?" I asked. "He said that you're making him leave the house."

"Are not," Neo said.

"We were voting on where he and Lance would go, now that there will be more kids," James told me. He was always honest.

"That is none of you guys' business," I told them, setting Chris down. He was getting heavy. "It's mine and Fang's."

"It should be our choice," Cody spoke out, which was odd for him. "If it ain't our choice to get more kids here, then we should at least decide how we get divided up! You want more kids, fine, make them stay in your room!"

Tyler got up and pushed him. "Shut up, Cody."

"Tyler, don't hit him," I said, sighing a little. "Cody, you're the kid. You get no say in anything, alright?"

"Then make them leave," he said, pointing as Lance and Neo. "Or James. We shouldn't have to give up room because their dads suck."

"Hey!" Neo took offense. "You can't say that! My dad is amazing. He loves me."

"Then why doesn't he have you?"

"At least my dad doesn't curse and yell at his wife," Neo retorted.

Lance started crying, running from the room. "I want my daddy! Why don't I have one?"

Chris looked up at me. "I don't think that Lance is happy."

I sighed, walking off to go find Lance. They're all little brats.

* * *

><p>"Alright, boys," Fang said, staring them all down. They were strewn across the living room, sitting on the couch, floor, or chair. "You want to have a meeting? We're having a meeting."<p>

Tyler frowned. "Why are you acting like we did something wrong?"

"Because you did. All of you," he said, staring everyone of them down. "Especially you, Tyler. You're the oldest. You don't let them do that to Max."

"Do what?"

"Make her upset."

"What made her upset?" Lucas asked, frowning. They had done the meeting to decide where Lance and Chris went, not hurt his mom. He loved his mom.

"Saying that we're hurting you by having more kids. She wouldn't tell me who said it, but if I find out-"

"Cody," Jason ratted.

"Hey!"

Fang looked at Tyler and he nodded. "Fine, Cody, come on. The rest of you be warned, you are so on my list. Now go get ready for bed."

They all scattered, leaving Cody sitting there on the couch, all alone to face the wrath of Fang alone.

"Let me tell you something, Cody," Fang said, walking closer to him. "You are one of the luckiest kids in this house. Both your parents are still here with you, you don't have any abnormality that could hinder you in society, you have good social skills, and your smart. There is no reason for you _ever_ to mouth off to your mom, got that? Because, honestly, if you want to have a house with less kids, that's fine. Go live with Dr. Martinez. See how soon you'll come crawling back to me."

Cody stared at his father, fearful of whether or not he might be getting a spanking. "O-Okay."

"Now go away," Fang said, taking a step back. "Now."

He ran off, his butt thankful for being spared.

* * *

><p>Fang was not happy with this. He wasn't happy at all. Lance wanted to know though, so we were going to tell him who his father was. Ultimately, it wasn't Fang's choice.<p>

"Why is he here?" Lance asked, staring at Bone. We were in the living room the next day, Bone over.

"Because, Lance, there's something that we have to tell you," I said, glancing at Bone. He wasn't happy with this either, but agreed to come, if only because I made him.

"What?"

"Bone is your dad."

He giggled, as if I was stupid. "No, Max. Who is it, Fang?"

Fang, who was standing near the door, arms crossed, shook his head. "It is him, Lance."

"No! Who is it?" He was starting to get upset.

"Me," Bone told him. "I'm your dad."

"No!" He was starting to cry. "Max! Make him go away."

"Lance, stop," I told him, frowning.

"Who's my mommy?" He asked through tears.

"Her name was Victoria," I told him.

"She died," Bone said before he could ask. Lance didn't want to talk to him though.

"Fang, make him leave," Lance said, frowning. "I want Wat."

Fang picked the stuffed toy up off the floor and brought it over to him before looking at Bone. He was already walking out of the door though. Lance hugged his toy to him, looking at Fang.

"I don't want him to be my daddy."

"Alright."

"Can you be my daddy?"

Fang frowned. "I think that I'm alright, just being Fang to you."

"I want you to be my daddy though."

Picking him up, Fang said, "Bone is a good dad."

"Left me," he said, wrapping his arms around Fang's neck. "Would you leave me?"

"Never."

Lance giggled, holding onto him. "I'mma pretend I don't know. That way, I can pretend that you're my daddy."

"Okay," Fang finally relented, setting him down on the ground. "You're still just calling me Fang, though."

"Course," he said, hugging Fang's leg. "Fang?"

"What?"

"I wanna stay with Chris," he said. "Don't make us move."

"I won't," he said, smiling down at him. "Alright?"

He nodded before running off, probably to tell the other boys that Iron Man is his father.

"Then what are we going to do?" I asked Fang.

"Hell if I know," he said, sighing. "Hey, you've got work. Want me to go in for you?"

"And leave me here?" I pushed myself off the couch. "Hell no."

"Watch your mouth," he said, kissing my head. "See you tonight."

"Yeah, tonight."

* * *

><p>"Why haven't they told him yet?"<p>

Tabitha shrugged, closing her eyes. "I don't know and I don't care."

He glanced at her from the floor, where he was messing with an old CD player. He had opened the back and was playing around with it.

"Well, aren't you in a good mood," he commented. "What's up?"

"…Don't you think that I have a right to find my mom? My real mom?"

"Yeah," he said, still not looking at her. "Of course."

"Tyler thinks that I'm just being a bitch."

"Well, Tyler can shut his fucking mouth," Adeem said, starting to get annoyed. "I'm so tired of him thinking that he can say whatever he wants because no one likes him anyways."

She opened her eyes to stare at him. "You have to be nice to him, Adeem. He is my brother."

"You don't like him," he pointed out. "So why do you care?"

"I just do, alright?" She shut her eyes again. "Max is having twins."

"Great," he mumbled, still messing with the thing. He wanted to make it work again, but it wasn't going so well. "Where are they going to sleep?"

"Not in my room," she said. She was on his bed, trying to take his nap. "You need to wash your sheets."

"That stain is not what you think it is."

Frowning, she said, "I just meant that they stink, nasty."

"Oh…well, forget I said anything then."

She groaned. "You make it really hard to be around you."

"I wish you made it hard for me to be around you."

"One more joke and I'm leaving."

"But Tabitha, you've just come!"

"…You're really not funny."

He sighed as Shark Bait started licking his face. "I know."


	29. Chapter 29

Broken

Chapter 29

Tabitha was sleeping when she felt breathing in her ear. "What are you doing?"

Chris whined, wiggling a little. "Shhh. I'm sleeping."

She turned a little. "Where's Lance?"

"Here," he said from the foot of the bed.

"Get up here," she sighed, moving over some. He crawled up between her and the wall. Chris smiled at her, closing his eyes again.

"Night," he said, about to go back to sleep.

"Why are you two in here?" She asked, frowning at them.

"We figured out how to fix the problem," Lance told her.

"What problem?"

"Where the new babies are gonna go," Chris explained.

"Yeah," Lance agreed. "We'll stay with you and they can have their own room."

Tabitha sighed. "I don't think that will work, Lance."

"Yes, it will," he said, smiling at her. "We won't go through your dresser no more."

"Yeah," Chris said. "We don't like your stickers."

Tabitha stared at the ceiling. "I don't have a nightlight."

"We don't need one if we have you."

Tabitha took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Boys, I like you more than I like the others."

"We know."

"But, I like having my own room better."

"It's okay," Lance said. "You'll get used to us."

"Yeah," Chris said. "And we won't even ask stupid questions."

"Like what?" She asked.

"Like why girls' got boobies," Lance said, staring at her. "Neo already told us. It's so when they fall, they have an airbag, like in a car."

Tabitha closed her eyes. "Let's just go to sleep."

"Why? It's break, Tabitha," Lance said, staring at her. "No more school for a week! It's great."

"Like Tony the Tiger," Chris said. "It's great!"

"Just sleep."

After ten minutes, they were both out. Sighing, she laid there, having to suffer through Lance's snoring and Chris's chocolate breath. The only thing worse was when Lance started drooling. What a life.

* * *

><p>"What?"<p>

I nodded. Today was the first day of break and I was already tired of the kids. "Pick something."

"Max, all the fliers you have are old," Tyler pointed out. "They're all for stuff that already passed."

"…Well you're all going to do something."

Tabitha pushed off the couch. "I'm going to take up guitar."

"Drums," Tyler said, though he didn't walk off.

"Karate," Cody and Jason both said.

I looked at Lance and Chris. "What about you two?"

"I'mma learn to ride a bike," Chris said.

"That doesn't count."

"Um…Soccer," Lance said.

I glanced at Fang. "Do they have soccer in the winter?"

"We're in Arizona. It don't get cold enough to not have it, so maybe."

"I'll learn magic," James said.

"Fine," I said as he and Lance ran off, Jason and Cody not far behind. "What about you, Chris?"

"Bike!"

"Chris-"

"Max, let him learn to ride a stupid bike."

"Fine," I said, rolling my eyes. "Ride your stupid bike."

Then it was just Neo left. "Well?"

He sighed. "Can I learn piano?"

"What?" Fang frowned. "N-"

"Where would you get a piano, Neo? We have no room for it."

"I could get an electric keyboard. Right?"

"Right."

"Okay."

"No," Fang butted in. "Piano is for girls."

"Is not," I said, making a face at him. "Beethoven, Bach…I know more, but I would rather just hear you name one girl that you know who plays."

"Lady Gaga."

"Oh, we all know that she's a man."

Neo frowned. "So you'll buy me a keyboard?"

"No, your dad or Dr. Martinez will," I said. What? We got too many kids to buy a freaking keyboard that he'll probably use once. Besides, with the way my attitude has been changing lately, tomorrow I might not even want them doing stuff.

"Baby, sit down," Fang said, gesturing to the couch. Jumping up, Neo ran out of the room, off to see what the other boys were doing. Tyler just looked at me.

"Can I do something else?"

I frowned at him, sitting down. "Yeah. Go play in your room."

"No, Max, I mean another project thing."

"Project?"

"The thing you were just talking about. I chose drums," he reminded.

"Oh." I grabbed the remote. "I'm already over that, Tyler."

He frowned. "So I can't do it?"

"Do what, Ty?"

"This class," he said, staring at me. "It's gonna start next semester, but it's after school. Plus it costs fifty bucks."

"For what?" Fang asked, wanting him to get to the point.

"It's a writing class," he said, now turning his vision to the ground.

"Fine," Fang said. "Just go away."

"Fang."

"What?"

Tyler looked at me. "So I can do it?"

"Santa will think about it."

"Max."

"Yes, Tyler," I said, rolling my eyes. "You can do it. Now get lost. I'm trying to watch TV."

He ran off, leaving Fang and I alone. He was watching me as he sat in the chair, but I refused to look at him.

"Wanna go lay in bed?" He asked me. "It has to be more comfortable than sitting on the couch."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I'm fine. Why? Your back hurting you?"

"…You said that kind of mean."

"I meant for it to be mean."

Fang frowned at me, standing up. "Fine. I'm going to the attic."

"Great," I said, rubbing my stomach. "Dexter says he hates you."

Fang frowned. "They're girls, Max."

"We don't know that."

"We will soon," he said, starting up the stairs. "Call me if you need me."

"Okay, I won't."

* * *

><p>Damien held his youngest to him, smiling down at her. They were in his bed, cuddling. Vanessa was very cuddly.<p>

"I'm home," Cameron said, walking into the room. "Where's Samantha?"

"In her room," he said, not looking up. "Oh, and it's no longer Nicki."

"Why? What happened?"

He glanced up. "She's discovered Lil' Kim. It's Kim now."

"Great," Cameron said, laying down. "Is this Kim better or worse than Nicki?"

"It depends on your taste," Damien said. "Honestly, I don't care for either of them. Strictly speaking on female rappers, I prefer Queen Latifah."

Cameron groaned. "Damien."

"What?" He stopped making faces at Vanessa.

"She's gay, you know."

"…Lying is a sin, Cameron. And so is crushing dreams."

"Oh, you dream about her, do you?" She turned on her side so that she could stare at him. "Should I be jealous?"

He blushed. "I don't dream about…that's nasty, Cameron."

"Calm down," she said, sighing a little. "My neck hurts."

"Why?"

"I slept on the couch last night."

He kissed Vanessa. "Yeah, I noticed. Why did you?"

"I don't know," she said, closing her eyes. "I just didn't feel like moving."

"Me and Nessa enjoyed the bed, though," he said, smiling at the baby.

"She slept in here with you?"

"Yep," he said, bouncing the baby a little. "She was fussy last night, so it was just easier to keep her in bed with me."

Cameron stared at the baby as she began to giggle, looking up at her daddy. It made her smile a little and feel good inside, even though she didn't want to. The baby might not know a lot, but she knew that Damien loved and took care of her.

"You know what, Nessa?" Damien asked her, knowing that she couldn't respond. "I love you. Did you already know that?"

She patted his stomach, still giggling. Laughing a little also, Damien ran a hand down her back. For as much love as his baby had for him, he had even more. She was the best thing in the world, save Samantha, who was equal to her, but different in ways. Sam was great because she was his first baby and taught him how to get things done. Vanessa was great because she was there for him while he and Cameron were having problems.

"Do you work tomorrow?" Cameron asked.

"Yep."

"Take Samantha with you."

"Cameron-"

"I just meant that it's break. She doesn't want to be stuck here the whole day and I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh," he said, though her suggestion had had dark undertones. "Well, I'll ask her, alright?"

"Yeah, whatever," she said, now slightly irritated with him. Damien just went back to the baby, who didn't care if he accused her of things, so long as he still cuddled with her.

* * *

><p>Tyler was sleeping when he felt something touch him. Slowly, he opened his eyes.<p>

"What?"

Jason smiled at him. "I want you to play basketball with me."

"No," he said, rolling over. "I'm sleeping."

"You're always sleeping! You and Mommy always sleep. Play with me, Tyler. Please?"

"No," he said, pushing the boy away. "Go play with Neo."

"Neo's dumb," he said, crossing his arms. "Please?"

"No!"

"Fine," he said, walking away. "Meanie."

After he was gone, Tyler laid there for a few minutes before getting up. When he went downstairs, Max was gone from the couch and Neo had replaced her.

"What are you doing?" Tyler asked.

He stopped jumping. "I'm pretending it's a trampoline."

"Well, cut it out," he said, going into the kitchen. Lance and Chris were in there, playing with toy cars.

"Hi, Ty," Lance said, smiling at him. "Wanna play with us?"

"No," he said, opening the fridge. "I'm gonna make hotdogs. You want some?"

"Do you make them like Max?"

"No, they're not going to be burnt."

"Okay then," Lance said as Chris rolled a car towards Snickers, who in turn hissed and ran off.

"Leave the cat alone," Tyler said, getting a pot out of the cabinet. "How many do you want?"

"One," Lance said.

"Five!"

"Chris," Tyler sighed.

"I can count to five," he informed his big brother. "Wanna hear?"

"Sure," Tyler said, going ahead and putting one in for his brother.

"One, two…I know the rest," he said as Lance snickered. "I do!"

"I know," Tyler said as Fox strode into the room. Chris forgot his anger at not knowing how to count and started playing with the orange cat. Tyler sighed, waiting for the water with hot dogs in it to boil.

"What are you doing here?" Tyler asked as Bone came out from the garage. Not answering him, he ruffled Tyler's hair before looking at Lance and Chris.

"Hi," Chris said before giggling. "Are you Lance's daddy?"

Bone nodded slightly.

"No," Lance said, not looking up. "Fang's my daddy."

Tyler frowned at him. "Who told you that?"

"Fang," he said, going back to his cars. "Not really, but he said that I could pretend, if I wanted."

Tyler started looking for hotdog buns. When he found none, he just got some bread out for them. "You guys want ketchup or mustard?"

"None," Chris said as Tyler handed him his. He gave the bread to Fox, just eating the hotdog.

"Ketchup," Lance said. Tyler got him his before getting a plate out for his six he had made.

"Lot," Bone commented.

Tyler shrugged, turning the stove off before running out of the room and back to his own. Lucas was back.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm on facebook."

Tyler blinked. "You're eight."

"Nine! I'm about to be ten, though."

"Whatever," Tyler said, sitting down on his bed. "I'm gonna go to Dan's on Thanksgiving."

Lucas kept messing around on his father's laptop.

"You wanna come? James and Cody are coming. We're going to-"

"Why would I want to go?" He glanced at his brother. "I hate Dan."

Tyler frowned. "Dan is amazing. He knows a lot too."

"That's what you think," Lucas said. "He's really just a racist."

"He is not! You don't even know what that is."

"Yes, I do," Lucas said, making a face at his brother. "How many times do I have to say that I'm nine before it sinks in?"

Tyler took a bite of one of his hotdogs. "You're just a brat, Lucas. Even Max doesn't like you."

"No!"

"Yes," Tyler said, stilling chewing. "She just pretends to like you."

"Like Alex did with you?"

"Take that back!"

"Never," Lucas said before running from the room. Tyler just sat there sulking while eating, not even enjoying it anymore.

* * *

><p>The next day, I went into work, even though I really didn't want to be. Naomi was there with me, doing something in the back. I was trying to ignore her though. For some reason, I just can't shake the feeling that she doesn't like me.<p>

Anyways, around noon, Samantha and her mom came into the store. Cameron had on her normal, oversized, white girl, white sunglasses. The only thing was, Samantha also had a pair on.

"Hey," I said to Cameron, glancing at Samantha. "Where's Damien?"

"He's at work," Cameron said.

"Where's Vanessa?"

"With him."

"Huh?"

She sighed. "He was going to take Samantha, but she said no, so I made him take the baby."

"You can't handle them both?"

"I can," she said. "I just don't care to."

"Hi," Samantha said, waving at me. I smiled at her.

"Hey, Nicki."

"Kim."

"Uh-"

"Don't ask," Cameron said. I'm sure she added an eye roll, but I couldn't see pass her sunglasses.

"Hi," Naomi said, coming out of the back with a box. "Heard you come in and got Damien's order."

"Great," Cameron said, again, probably rolling her eyes. She didn't like Naomi either. Though, in Naomi's defense, Cameron didn't like any woman, really.

"Aw, you got the same glasses as your mom?" Naomi asked, setting the box down. I went ahead and rang them up, not wanting a lecture from a twenty year old on work ethic.

"Yep," Sam said, smiling.

Naomi walked off again, more than likely to finish inventory.

"Why'd you buy her glasses like you?" I asked as Cameron handed over the money.

"She wanted them," she said, shrugging.

"I needed them," Samantha clarified.

Cameron lifted them off her eyes, sliding them onto the top of her head. Seeing this, Samantha mimicked her, wanting to be just like her mom.

"What are you guys doing today?" I asked.

"Shopping," Cameron said as I gave her the box. "You're stuck here?"

"Yeah," I said, sighing. "It's better than home, though."

"Why?"

"Lance and Chris have decided that they're moving in with Tabitha, so Fang's trying to get some of the other boys to convince Chris and Lance to move in with them."

"Why do they want Tabitha?" She asked as Samantha ran off.

"I don't know," I said, sighing. "She's nicer to them than she is the rest of us."

Cameron made a face. "Maybe you should think about making Luther take James back. That's one kid down."

"No," I said. "No way would I let Luther have him."

"Damien's parents-"

"I hate Dan."

She sighed. "I guess we could take him."

"And put him where, Cameron?"

"That's the same thing that you're thinking. It'd be easier for me just to put the two girls together than you having to mash three boys or four."

"Still," I said, shaking my head. "Just getting him out of the house doesn't make that big of a difference."

Cameron shrugged as Samantha came back. "You'll figure it- Samantha, put that back."

She was holding a Goku plush. "But I want it."

"And?"

"Please?"

"Fine, just shut up," she said, handing me a five. "Keep the change."

I didn't make them ring it up, because as soon as they were out of the store, I just pocketed the money. What? I basically steal time by just sleeping on the job anyways…

* * *

><p>"So where'd you get it?"<p>

"Yesterday, I was in the garage, when Bone came out there," Tabitha said. "I didn't even know that he was over. Anyways, he gave it to me. He said that Max told him that I wanted to learn. Then he left."

"Did he just buy it?" Adeem asked, frowning. "Looks kind of old."

"I guess it's one of his old ones," Tabitha said. "He had a lot of stuff in storage when he left."

Adeem shrugged. "Let's get to work."

She groaned. "Adeem, I'm not really learning guitar."

"You're not?"

"No," she said, making a face at her naïve boyfriend. "I just said that to get Max off my case."

"Then why are you over here?"

"Why am I ever over here?"

"To admire my hotness?"

"What hotness?"

He rolled his eyes before setting his guitar up on his bed. "Fine, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," she said. "Did you start your writing assignment yet?"

"I'm not doing it," he said.

"What? Why?"

"Why would I?" He laid on his back. Tabitha sat her guitar on his bed before lying on her side next to him on the floor.

"I don't know, maybe you care about actually passing your class?"

"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "Not at all. Do you? You are gone in a year or two, right?"

She wasn't going to let him make her feel bad for anything she had ever said. "Yep."

He turned so that they were facing each other. "You know what I was thinking?"

"No," she said. In all honest, he always had some out there thought that was on the edge of insanity. "What?"

"We should shoot up the school."

She tries really, really hard to accept Tyler. She'd long given up on Adeem, however. "What?"

He nodded. "One last bang before you leave. Shock everyone."

"Then I would be a wanted fugitive, Adeem."

"And?" He laid on his back again. "I like the idea."

"You're demented," she said, still looking at him. "Who would we shoot?"

"All of our friends," he said, throwing her off even more.

"Why?"

"No one would ever expect it."

"No one would ever expect us to freaking kill ourselves, that doesn't mean that we should do it."

"Yes!" He turned again. "We should do that too!"

"Why would I ever kill myself? I'm not Tyler."

He frowned at her. In reality, this whole conversation was just to pass the time and make her annoyed. Nothing he said was for real. "Why would Tyler kill himself?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

"Because he's happy."

"Hardly."

He shook his head at her. "Tabitha, you have a million friends and a boyfriend. You're unhappy. Tyler lives in his own world, goes to church every Sunday, and still loves his mom. That's happy."

Gawking at him, she retorted, "You don't know anything, Adeem. How could he ever be happy?"

"Hell if I know, but he is," Adeem said, shrugging. "No matter how much you wish that he wasn't-"

"I do not."

"Yes, you do," he said. "You have an unhealthy obsession with it, in fact."

"What do you know?" She laid on her back, no longer wanting to look at him. "You're just trying to change the subject."

"Me? You're the one who brought up your brother," he said. "I could care less if he's happy or not as long as he stays off my back. He's your problem."

"Yeah, whatever."

He blew air at the side of her head, making her push him. Smiling, Adeem laid on his back too.

"If we ever did kill ourselves, we'd do it together," he said. "Right?"

Tabitha was too in love with herself to ever even dream of doing that. "Right."

* * *

><p>"But why?" Cody asked. "That's not even fair."<p>

Fang sighed. "Cody, just hear me out, alright? Think about it. Lance isn't that bad."

"He cries."

"James cries."

"Not anymore!" James yelled. "Least not recently…"

Fang sighed. "Come on, boys."

"No," Cody said, shaking his head. "Tabitha already agreed to take them."

"She was just trying to humor them."

"Then that's her problem," he said, still playing with his action figures. "Try Lucas and Tyler."

"No way."

"Jason and Neo?"

"They're going to take Chris."

"Um…we'd rather have Chris," James said.

"What?" Fang frowned. "What's wrong with Lance that none of y'all want him?"

"Nothing," Cody said, shrugging. "He's just not that gullible. Chris is."

Fang sighed. "I just don't see why you can't-"

James jumped up when the doorbell rang. Finally, his ticket out of Fang's persuasion!

"I'll get it," he said before Cody could. He ran off down the stairs, wanting to get to the door before any of the other boys. When he opened it, he wished he had just let Cody get it.

"James?" Tammie smiled at her son. "You've gotten so big!"

That's what happens when you leave for years on end and never even call. James just stood there, letting himself be hugged by her.

"When did you get glasses?"

"A few weeks ago," he said. "Fang took me to get them."

'Did he?"

He nodded as she let go of him. She looked at him again.

'You're darker than last time I saw you."

Was that a compliment? Or just a statement? Something negative? None of the above? Still just staring, he watched as she looked him over, as if checking for something she could complain about. She found none. Max took good care of him. Every other pile of clothes that Lucas gave them from his old stuff, he got first dibs. Plus, Cody was too big for Tyler's old jeans, so he got those too. Broken CD players and old clock radios all went to him and Cody. What more could you ask for?

"Is your father in town?"

So that was why she was here. James just nodded.

"Then why aren't you with him?"

That notion was beyond his comprehension. "Huh?"

"Then why are you here?"

Because his father didn't want him, because he didn't want his father, because this was his home, because Max and Fang loved him, because he loved them back, because his brothers lived here, because Tabitha was here to take care of him, because Snickers, Tank, and Fox needed him, because…because…

"Because I wanna be," he said, crossing his arms, now getting a little defiant. "And I don't want you here, so leave."

"Excuse me?"

His courage wasn't easily broken, not this time. "I said that I don't want you here. I don't care about you anymore, so leave."

"I knew that Max raised you to be a-"

"Max raised me wonderful, so you wouldn't even know," he said, moving back so that he could slam the door in her face. Then he ran back up the stairs and to his room, where Fang was still sitting on the floor with Cody, trying to convince him to take in Lance.

"Who was it?" Fang asked.

"No one," James said, sniffling as he tried his hardest to keep back his inevitable tears.

"What's wrong?" Fang looked at him with concern. James ran to him and forced himself into Fang's lap, like he was a little kid. He wrapped his arms around Fang's neck.

"I don't want her here, Fang," he cried, the tears now finding a way past his best defenses.

"Who?" He asked, holding him, just wanting to him to stop crying. For all the love Fang had of kids, crying was one thing that he wasn't good with.

"It's not fair!" James closed his eyes, not even caring that Cody was in the room and witnessing the break down. "She can't just leave and come back. Right?"

"Right," Fang said, going ahead and making assumptions on the mystery person. "If you don't want her here, that's fine, James. It's up to you."

He cuddled against Fang, wanting to find the same things in Max, even though he knew he couldn't. Fang loved him, but not like the other boys. When he was still a little kid, Fang did, but not anymore. Fang didn't like crybabies. Fang didn't like James. He loved him, but he didn't like him.

* * *

><p>Cameron was in the bedroom when Damien came home. He had already put Vanessa in her crib, so it was just them.<p>

"You get my shipment?" He asked, going to give her a kiss.

"Yep," she said, turning to look back on the TV. "I left it on the kitchen table."

"Thanks," he said, pulling off his shirt. "Sam in bed?"

"In her room," Cameron said, shrugging. "I never went in there to find out if she was or not."

He pulled off his jeans before going to get his Batman sleep pants from the dresser. "Cameron, did you wash Superman?"

"Those stupid pants? Yeah. They're in the dryer."

"Thank you," he said, pulling on the Caped Crusader.

"No shirt," she told him as he picked up The Hulk.

Damien shrugged, laying it back down before going into the bathroom to take his vitamins.

"Damien, do you ever think about James?"

"Yeah," he said, going over to the toilet. "Anything specific?"

She waited for him to finish peeing before answering. "Yeah. About him staying with Max and Fang."

"He's happy," Damien said, washing his hands when she prompted.

"Yeah," she said as he came to get in bed. Peter opened his eyes, but quickly closed them again. "But they're having twins."

"Good for them," he said, taking the remote from her so that he could turn off the TV. Cameron decided not to kill him in his sleep for it, just this once.

"Don't you think that we should…like…move him in with us?"

Damien had never thought of this, nor did he think it was a good idea. "Why?"

"They aren't exactly full of space over there, Damien."

"Still," he said. "Why mess with a good thing?"

"Because it could be better."

"If it ain't broke, don't' fix it."

"Even if it could be better in the end?"

He decided to hear her out though it wouldn't change anything. "How could moving him to our place be any better, Cameron?"

"Come on, Damien, think about it," she said. "All their time goes to how ever many kids they have. Yours goes to two and mine goes to none. We have room for him here."

"Your time better go to two too, Cameron."

She forged on. "Plus, we could buy so much more stuff for him. I mean, I'm not all that fond of our kids and look what I buy them. I love James. We're so much more financially adept for him than they are."

"Cameron, if you cared so much about his welfare as far as money goes, you'd just give Max and Fang money."

She scowled at him, though she knew he couldn't see it. "I do, stupid."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she said. "To Fang, at least. No offense to Max, but I do not trust her with money."

Damien considered this before shrugging. "How much do you give him?"

"Two hundred ever two months."

Damien frowned. "Really?"

"That's not a lot, when you think about it."

"Still."

"Damien, I just want him here," she said. "The more that I think about it, the more that it makes sense. If not us, at least your parents. Max and Fang are great, but still. James should be with his family."

"James should be where he wants to be."

"James is a little boy would lets his emotions run him, not his thoughts," she said. "Please, Superman? Just think about it?"

He was thrown by the nickname. "Are you just trying to soften me up?"

"Is it working?"

He sighed. "I just don't think that Fang will go for it."

"Yeah, he will," she said. "If he and Max both say no, then fine. If they say yes, the worst that could happen is that he's not happy here and we send him back. Right?"

"I guess so…"

"Good," she said, leaning over Peter to kiss his cheek. "Night, Damien."

"Goodnight, Cameron," he mumbled, waiting for her to go to sleep before going to check on Samantha. She was still up, playing with her toys.

"Bed," he told her.

"Bed," she said back, staring at him.

"I'm an adult, I got bed when I want."

"Wanna have a slumber party?" She asked. "We could eat ice cream."

He went over to her and gave her a kiss on the head. "Bed. Now."

"Fine," she said, getting up. "But you'll miss out on the ice cream."

'I think I'll live."

* * *

><p>"Any progress today?"<p>

Fang grunted as I came into the bedroom. It was midnight and he was already asleep.

"You never called me," I said, going into the bathroom. "I tried you, but you didn't pick up."

"Busy."

I finished in the bathroom before going to get in bed with him. "What were you busy with? The boys?"

"James."

"Did he decide to take on Lance or Chris?"

Fang shook his head, opening his eyes and rolling onto his side to face me. "Tammie came by."

I frowned as I tried to get comfortable. "He was upset?"

"Very," Fang said, moving my pillows around to help me. "Better?"

I nodded, laying my head down. "Cameron came by the store."

"And?"

"She offered to take James for us."

Fang frowned. "He wouldn't like that."

"He might, though," I said, staring at him, trying to gauge his reaction. "And it's not like with Neo, where we'd never see him if we sent him to New York. James would be in town, with his aunt and uncle-"

"Who are having marital problems."

"We're always having marital problem!"

"No, we're not!"

"Then why are you yelling?"

"Because you are yelling!"

We both took a deep breath.

"I don't want him to leave, either, Fang, but we're running out of options."

"When Luther and Tammie started showing that they sucked as parents, Damien and Cameron didn't step up. We did. Now they want to take the kid that we took care of since before he could walk? No. If they want a kid, they can have Tyler."

"Fang," I said, hitting him. "You cannot say things like that."

"What? He doesn't want to be here either."

"Neither does Tabitha."

"That's different," he said.

"How so?"

"She's a girl. Girls always complain," he said. "Tyler's just an ungrateful brat."

"Take that back, Fang, because you know that it's not true," I said. "He has never said that he wants to leave."

"Only because you're here."

"And? He loves me. What's wrong with that?"

"You're the only thing that he cares about. Little demented-"

"I'm out," I said, trying to get out of bed. I would need Fang's help with that though, and he wasn't in the mood. "Fang."

"No," he said, rolling onto his back. "You're staying."

"I'll fall to the floor and land on my stomach."

"No, you won't."

"Wanna bet?"

Fang turned again and grabbed me, pulling my body closer to his. "Yep."

"Fang, let me go!"

"Yelling again, are we, dear?" He kissed my head. "Calm down. You're upsetting the girls."

"They're not girls."

"You don't know that."

"I bet they're not."

"Bet all you want," he said, closing his eyes. "And James is not leaving, Max. End of story."

"Then what, Fang? We need to start getting the babies room ready."

"We will," he said, yawning. "I just need to pick it out."

"I think that we need Lance and Chris's room."

"I know," Fang said. "I just don't know how to get the other boys to-"

"Fang, I'm over trying to be nice. Tell them that they're going to share a room and if they don't pick, you will for them, and your choice will be like Hell to them."

"This is why all of the boys like me better."

I closed my eyes. "Shut up before I try to leave again."

He kissed my head. "James was really upset about Tammie."

"Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah," Fang said. "It didn't help much."

"I'll try."

"I don't get why Tammie has to show her head again," Fang commented. "Things were fine without her."

"Ain't that the truth," I mumbled, sighing a little. "Fang?"

"What?"

"If James ever does want to move in with Damien and Cameron-"

"Same with Neo. It's up to them."

"What about Lance?"

Fang snorted. "I don't think that we'll ever have to worry about him wanting to be with Bone."

"Is that a good thing?"

"That's a great thing."

* * *

><p>Bone hadn't seen Samantha in awhile. He was getting along, though. It wasn't so hard anymore, living alone. No one ever tried to change the channel. No one ever drank the last soda. No one ever ate the last piece of pizza. No one ever forced him to eat. No one ever cut off his beer. No one ever told him no. Though, as Newton has said, for ever action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.<p>

No one ever watched TV with him. No one ever shared the last drink with him. No one ever bought the pizza. No one ever made him cookies to get him to eat. No one ever rubbed his stomach after he puked from drinking too much. No one ever told him yes. Yes, they'd go to the store with him. Yes, they would love to take a nap together. Yes, they would love to be taken to the park. Yes, fetch does sound great. Yes, going for a walk would be wonderful. Yes, cuddling would be nice.

Sighing, Bone laid down in his cold, lonely, depressing bed and closed his eyes, trying to imagine what life would be like now, if Victoria was still alive. Lance would love his daddy, Victoria could possibly be pregnant or already had another kid, Bubba might be dead, but Nina would still be around, happily digging holes in the backyard of that house Vickie was always talking about. And, of course, Bone would be the happiest person in the world. Yeah. Here's to what ifs.

* * *

><p>Luther was talking to some girl, not Naomi, on the phone when there was a knock at the door. Cursing, he hung up and went to answer it.<p>

"What?"

"I need a place to stay."

Luther's eyes widened. "Tammie?"

"No, the devil."

"Makes sense."

"Luther."

He shook his head. "Can't. I have a girlfriend now."

"When has that ever made a difference?"

"She's not like you. I care about her."

Ouch. "So you don't cheat on her?"

He snorted. "I never said that. I just don't leave as obvious crumbs in the bed."

"Fine. I'll take the couch."

"We'll take the couch."

"What?"

He shrugged. "You stay here, you're gonna have to sleep with me."

"Luther."

"What?" He smiled. "I'm a flat character. I never change."

She turned. "Fine, I'll go stay with Damien."

"Have fun," he said, closing the door behind her.

When she got to her stepbrother's place, it was around one in the morning. Sighing, she went up to the door. It took her ringing the door bell five times before someone answered.

"If it's Luther, you better go ahead and turn around."

"I'm not Luther."

Cameron opened the door. "What do you want?"

"To talk to my brother."

"He's busy."

"Tell him that I'm here."

"Um…no, I'm good," Cameron said, closing the door.

"Who was that?" Damien asked, walking down the stairs.

"No one."

The doorbell rang again. Damien made a face at her before answering it.

"T-"

"Your stupid wife wouldn't let me in."

Damien just hugged his big sister. "When did you get here?"

"This afternoon."

"And it took you think long to come here?"

"I was with someone."

"Who?"

"Why is that any of your business?"

He let her go. "Well, it's kind of late. What do you want?"

"To stay here."

"There's not room," he said. "Except for the couch."

She frowned. "I thought that you guys had an extra bedroom?"

"We did," he said. "Now it's Samantha's."

"Okay," she said slowly. "What happened to Samantha's old room?"

"Vanessa has it."

"Who?"

He wasn't happy with her. "I've left a million messages on your phone. I had another baby."

"Oh."

"Do you just delete them?"

"Damien-"

He ran off up the stairs. Cameron just closed the door in her face again, dead bolting it. Tammie stood there for a second before walking back to her car. She could go to her parents, but she never liked being with them. Sighing, she turned back to Luther's place.

"I knew you'd be back," he said, answering the door, naked.

"Let's just hurry this up."

* * *

><p><strong>Next chapter is the last. <strong>


	30. Chapter 30

Broken

Chapter 30

**December**

"Do you think that I'm stuck up?"

"Yes."

You'd think that Adeem would have learned by now. I glanced over at them from behind the counter, where I was trying to fall asleep. Luther had kind of, sort of hired Adeem. He was paying him ten dollars to sweep and restock. I pointed out that this was something I had Lucas do for free, but Tabitha had begged him to do it. She hadn't talked to him in forever, so he readily accepted, evening giving her a free one hundred dollars for nothing. I can't complain though. I get paid for sleeping, which is better than being paid for nothing in my book.

"Well, I'm not," she said, watching him as he swept.

"You kind of are," he said, looking at her. "It's okay though. Why do you care anyways?"

"Some girl called me bourgie."

He snickered, but she just hit him in the arm.

"It's not funny, Adeem."

He sobered, if only slightly. "I'm going to New York."

"When?"

"Over break."

She looked at the ground. "Will you be here for Christmas?"

"No. I leave the day that school lets out and won't be back until the day after New Years."

Glancing back up at him, she said, "That's cool. I have other things to do."

He went back to sweeping. "I'm sure."

"Yeah," she went on, as if she felt that she had to prove her self. "Uh…there's McKinley. We're gonna hangout…maybe. Uh…Maria…and Jenna of course."

"Of course."

"Yeah, so I'll probably have a better time here than you will there."

"Probably."

"Stop agreeing with me," she said before stomping off to the back. I fell asleep after that.

* * *

><p>"What are you doing, Daddy?"<p>

Fang didn't look up. "Looking up names."

"For what?" Lance asked as he and Chris climbed up onto the bed.

"The twins."

Chris stood up behind Fang and wrapped his arms around his father's neck. "What are they gonna be?"

"The twins?"

"Names."

"Well, they're boys, so I don't know," he said, sighing a little. "I like the name Drew. What do you think? You want a baby brother named Andrew?"

"No," Chris said. "Tigger."

Lance giggled, sitting down next to Fang, Indian style. "Why do you and Max got such a big bed?"

"Because Max is fat."

"No," Chris said, giggling as he wrapped his arms tighter around Fang's neck. "You fat."

"It's you're, Chris," Fang said before shaking his head. "And no, I'm not."

"Yeah," Lance agreed. "Fang's strong. Fang's Superman!"

"DC rule, Lance."

"Sorry," he said, smiling at Fang. The older man just smiled and ruffled the boy's shaggy brown hair.

"It's alright, just this once."

Chris let go of his father and moved to sit in his lap. "Daddy?"

"What?"

"Are you sad that the babies are boys?"

Yes, horribly so. Fang just smiled. "Sad? About my boys? Never."

Chris giggled as Fang started play wrestling with him and Lance. Daddy was the best. Period.

* * *

><p>"Wow."<p>

Damien shrugged. "Wasn't that great. Everything sounds like junk on keyboards, Neo."

"I wanna play like you!"

The older man smiled at him. "You will. Come here."

Damien moved so that Neo could sit down in front of the keyboard. Reaching in to his bag he had brought, Damien pulled out a book. "Here. I got a book for you to learn from."

"Did you use it?" Neo asked as Damien put it on the keyboard.

"What? Oh, no," he said, shaking his head. "My Auntie T and Uncle Jay taught me by ear how to play."

"This is a little kids book," Neo complained as Damien turned it to the first page.

"No, it's not," Damien said, shaking his head.

"Mozart Mouse and Beethoven Bear?"

"Well…Cameron got it for you."

"I wanna learn like you."

"You need to learn to read music," Damien told him.

"Do you know?"

"Now I do," he said. "I didn't until I was fifteen and I got a real music teacher. My aunt and uncle just taught me to hear something and mimic it. That's good and everything, but learning to read music is more important."

Neo groaned as Damien made him learn from the book. Samantha, who had come over with her father, was busy with Tyler though. She didn't want to be down there with stupid Neo. Ew.

"What are you doing?"

Samantha jumped as the bedroom door was opened. In reality, she had just been standing in Tyler's room, watching him sleep…and going through Lucas's stuff. Now though, Lucas coming into the room had woken Tyler up, who didn't look all that happy with her.

"I came to invite Tyler to my birthday party."

Tyler, who actually wasn't shirtless for once, because it was too cold, sighed. "Yeah. I'll come."

"Good," she said before looking at Lucas. "You?"

"Whatever," he said, going to sit down on his bed. "Now buzz off. We're busy."

"Doing what?"

"Guy stuff," he said, frowning at her. Samantha decided to just leave, mainly because she had someone else to look for.

"Hey," Fang said as she came up the stairs to the attic. "If you're looking for Jason, he's in his room."

"No," she said, staring at him. "Mr. Fang?"

"What?" He glanced at her.

"Is Adeem here?"

He frowned. "No, not today."

"Oh," she said before walking off again. Fang just shook his head. Adeem…that was a step up from Bone, though.

* * *

><p>When I got home, all I wanted to do was go to bed. Fang had other plans.<p>

"Hey."

I ignored him.

"Hey. Hey, Max? Max? Max!"

"What?" I turned my head to look at him. "What do you want?"

We were in bed together, but Fang wasn't trying to sleep. Oh no. He was on the laptop.

"I was thinking," he began. "About names."

"Fang, I'm sleeping."

"Yeah, I know," he said, smiling at me. "But I just can't stop. For all we know, this could be our last kids."

"Thought you wanted a girl?"

He sighed, running a hand down his face. "Stop saying it like that."

"Like what?"

"You know."

"No, tell me."

He looked at me. "You say it like I'm not happy with the daughter I have now. And I am. I love Tabitha. That's my first born."

I frowned at him. "Kevin is your first born."

Fang was starting to get exasperated with me. "You know what I meant, Max."

"No."

He patted his chest where, under his shirt, laid Kevin's name, forever inked on his skin. "This? This is my first born. But she's my first baby, Max."

"She and Tyler are twins."

"Yeah, Max, but Tyler was in the hospital longer," he said. "Tabitha was the first kid that I ever stayed up with all night while she cried. She's the first baby that I ever put to bed, changed their diaper. I didn't even know about Kev until you came back."

"He's still your first-"

"Max, I'm trying to have a good night, but you just won't let me, will you?" He closed the laptop. "If you want a fight, look somewhere else. I'm sure Tabitha will fight with you."

"Low blow, Fang, but I'm not the one that is trying to have another daughter because I hate her."

He turned to look at me. "Don't you ever say that again."

"Whatever."

Fang got out of bed, taking his laptop with a baby names site on it. "Screw you, Max."

"Fang, you're the one who woke me up."

"Yeah, because I forgot what a b-" He stopped himself. "Just leave me alone."

"Fine," I said, closing my eyes, knowing good and well that it would be another hour at least before I was even able to fall asleep again. "Just fine."

* * *

><p>"It's late."<p>

Samantha glanced up. "Oh."

"Are you shocked?" Cameron walked into the kitchen. "Like one in the morning just freaking snuck up on you. And get away from my ice cream."

"It ain't got your name on it."

"Ain't isn't a word, Samantha."

"It's in the dictionary."

"Don't sass me, brat," she said. "And the vanilla is you and your fathers. Chocolate is mine."

"That ain't-"

Cameron cleared her throat.

"-isn't fair."

"Life isn't fair. If it was, I wouldn't have had to keep you."

Samantha frowned, still eating her ice cream. "Dad said that if I told him that you're mean to me again, he'd leave you."

"Mean? Fine. Give me back all that stuff I've bought you."

"Grandma says that you don't love me."

Cameron grabbed the bowl that her daughter was still eating out of. "I don't."

"That you just buy me stuff to compensate."

"You don't even know what compensate means."

"So?" She frowned as her mother started eating the ice cream. "That was mine, you know."

"It was never yours, brat. Everything that you have, is actually mine."

"Except Peter. He's daddy's."

"He's not yours, brat."

"Stop calling me that," she said. "I don't like that word."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "If that's the worse thing I'm calling you, you're lucky."

She looked at her mom. "What else would you call me?"

"The things my mother called me."

"Like what?"

Cunt, slut, worthless piece of shit, bitch, a handful of others, and the one that she hated the most.

"Adopted."

Samantha cocked her head to the side. "You're adopted?"

"I wish," she snorted, finishing the ice cream. "Go to bed."

"It's a Friday night though."

"Actually, it's Saturday morning. Now get," she said, going to put the bowl in the sink for Damien to wash the next day. "Before I tell your dad you were up."

"He'd just explain to me the importance of sleep."

"That's something that I wouldn't worse on my worse enemy."

"How could dad talk to himself?"

"Go."

* * *

><p>The next day was Saturday and Adeem was supposed to work again. He didn't. Tabitha convinced Luther to pay him regardless though, so it was okay. She had told Luther that there was a movie marathon on that she wanted to watch with Adeem. It was cool, because Luther even offered up his own, completely empty house to them, not even tipping Fang or Max off on this. She hated Luther, but sometimes she had to love him.<p>

"I so can't believe that her dad was the murder," Adeem said, rolling his eyes at Tabitha.

"Yeah," she said, glancing around.

When Jenna was home alone, she had sex. When Tabitha was home alone, she contemplated it. When Jenna found her mother's lighter and cigarettes at eleven, she smoked. When Tabitha found Luther's pot, she pretended that it wasn't there. When Jenna got A's, it was because the nerds thought she was hot and she made them do her homework. When Tabitha got A's, it was because she worked her ass off for them.

"The sequel's up next. Wanna watch it?"

Now or never. "I actually wanted you to come over so that you could help me with my paper for English. It's about-"

"Tabitha," he groaned, moving away from her a little. "If I'm not doing mine, why would I help you with yours?"

"Please? Oh, and I need help with my math."

"No."

"Adeem, if it wasn't for me, you'd be working right now," she reminded. "Not only that, but also you'd be stuck with my dad and Luther all day. Just help me with this little bit of-"

"Tabitha, nothing is just a little bit with you," he said. "You'll make me go over the math with you five times for each problems, triple check your English paper-"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"When that's how my girlfriend wants to spend our Saturday? Yeah, it kind of is."

"Fine," she said, crossing her arms.

"Then you wanna watch the sequel?"

She just stared straight ahead.

"Fine, be like that," he said, getting up. "You think Luther'll care if I eat some of his food?"

Nothing. Sighing, he walked out of the room and into the kitchen. When he came back, she was laying down on the couch, so that he couldn't sit down. He made a face at her before sitting down on the loveseat.

"You really suck sometimes," he commented. "You know that? Just because I don't want to do freaking homework with you one time-"

"Shut up, Adeem," she said, frowning at him. "Like I don't help you with your stuff."

"You don't, Tabitha."

"Only because you don't want to do any of it."

"Exactly!"

"Sorry I don't like being a failure like you, Adeem."

Scowling, he said, "I'm not a failure."

"Sure you are. Just ask your dad."

"Yeah? At least I have friends."

"I have friends."

"Yeah, because you have me," he said. "You're nothing without me, Tabitha. Know that and know it well."

"Oh, whatever," she said, pushing off the couch and walking out of the house. When she got to the backyard, she noticed that they really hadn't been alone.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, frowning. She knew that Tammie had been in town for the past few weeks, but she had yet to see her. No one had. Except for Luther apparently, who, mind you, was supposed to be in a relationship with Naomi.

Tammie glanced up from the lounge chair. "Relaxing."

Considering this, Tabitha sat down in the one next to her. While looking at the pool, she said, "Luther told me that no one was here."

"Figures," Tammie said, rolling her eyes. "He probably forgot that I was staying with him."

Suddenly, Tabitha felt compelled to call Tammie out on a few things that might not seem like any of her business, but sure felt like they were to her.

"You know that he has a girlfriend. And he's really happy with her."

Tammie snorted. "Clearly."

"And James is happy too."

"With Max."

"Well…yeah."

"If you were trying to tell me something that I didn't already know, you failed."

Tabitha was not happy with this whole thing. Dealing with Adeem was one thing, but Tammie was a complete other. Part of her felt bad for speaking to her like this. Sure, when she was little, she probably had some sort of connection with the older woman, but now that was all gone. This was like talking back to a stranger. It was just…weird. The deed had to be done, though, because Tammie had broken Tabitha's two biggest rules. Never hurt her brothers and never, under any circumstance hurt her Luther.

"You just shouldn't mess with stuff that's fine without you," she said, trying to think of an old saying that followed this, but she was coming up blank.

"Like you and your mom."

She turned to glare at her. "What do you know about that?"

"My mother hears all the stuff your brother tells Dan," she said, rolling her eyes. "Oh, and by the way, you should really treat your brother better than you do. Damien was horrible, but I still stuck by him."

"Oh, shut up!" Jumping up, Tabitha decided then and there that she was stupid for thinking that she could ever talk to this woman. Tammie was just a bitch that used Luther! "What do you know?"

"What do I know?" Tammie asked her self, closing her eyes again. "You know, Tabitha, I always kind of liked you. Until now."

"Why? Because I told you the truth?"

As if. "No. Because you're just like her."

"Who?"

"Max," she said, nodding her head slightly.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are," she said. "Headstrong, no respect for authority, you yell a lot. Yep. You and Max. Twins."

"You don't know anything," she said, stomping back to the door, the same way Max did when she was upset with Fang.

"I think we've established this."

Same as Max, she too had to get in the last word. "Screw you!"

Slamming the door behind her, she went into the house.

"What's up with you?" Adeem asked as she walked into the living room.

"Nothing," she said, sitting back down on the couch. Carefully, as if she were an injured animal and any sudden movement might frighten her, he got up and sat down next to her.

"You weren't talking to voices in your head out there were you?"

"No, Adeem."

"You sure? I hear that it runs in your family."

"Not really…Max used to hear voices. Or one," she commented. "That's what I've heard them say, at least."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. "That just made her a lot less hot."

"Wish I had told you sooner."

"Me too."

* * *

><p>"You've been eating chocolate."<p>

I kissed Fang again. "No."

"Then you've been making out with someone who has," he said.

"So what if I have?"

"Eaten the chocolate or made out with someone else?"

"Fang."

He ran a hand down my stomach before moving to lay down on the bed. After helping me settle into it too, he spoke.

"Drew and what else?"

"Huh?"

"I've decided that I like the name Drew. What else should we choose? Are we going to do like Tyler and Tabitha and keep it the same letter? If so, would we use D for Drew or A for Andrew?"

"Fang, not today, alright?" I closed my eyes. "Let's just spend the next hour together in silence."

"Hour?"

"Tabitha's at Luther's for some reason or another, Tyler is in his room and probably will never come out, Lucas went to a friend, Cody and James are with Trinity, Neo and Jay went over to Cameron's to hang out with Damien, and Lance and Cody are with Mom. Free for an hour."

Fang, who had just gotten home from work, liked this idea. He moved move over some so that we could cuddle.

"Alright," he mumbled, kissing my head. "Hour of silence."

"Yep."

About ten minutes…more like two, into this whole silence thing, I realized that I couldn't sleep. Well, if one of us can't…

"Fang?"

He grunted.

"I wanna talk."

"Max," he groaned. "Seriously? It's been a minute."

"It's been ten."

He just stared at me.

"Two," I corrected. "Besides, I'm pregnant. You have to do as I say."

"I always wondered why guys abused their wives. Then I married you."

"Drew doesn't like hearing his daddy say that."

Fang leaned down and kissed my stomach. "He'd better get used to it."

"Fang."

"Daddy's just kidding," he mumbled against my bump. "Hey, Max?"

"Hmmm?"

"Are you hungry? I am."

"We don't have any food. That's why I sent all the kids places."

"We have to have some sort of food," he said, getting up.

"Go to the store," I told him, now tired again. "I'm going to have my hour."

"Sure," he said, rolling his eyes on his way out.

* * *

><p>"This is an end of an era, Neo. An era!"<p>

"Alright, alright, chill," he said. "I'm trying to practice piano."

He had brought his keyboard with him to Sam's house, in hopes that Damien could help him. No such luck, as Cameron had Damien out running errands. Jason had gone with Damien, but Neo opted to stay and work on his scales.

"Well, listen to me and I wouldn't have to yell."

"Whatever, Sam."

"Kim."

"Nicki," he said, just to make her hit him.

"I don't like Nicki anymore!"

"What did she ever do to you?" He asked, skeptical that it was anything.

"She's nothing but a copy cat!"

"Says who?"

"Lil' Kim."

"Is she?"

"Huh?"

"Is she really a copy cat?" Neo asked, looking hard at Samantha. "Or are you just going by what some woman you've never met said? Because it's really stupid of you to think that you have to pick one or the other. It's like with your nose. If God gave you two nostrils, why would you only ever pick one?"

"I guess you're right," she said.

"Course I am," he said, looking back down at his Mozart Mouse book. "Now will you let me practice?"

"No, because I didn't get to finish telling you about the end of an era."

"What's an era?"

"I'm not sure, but it sounds important, Neo," she told him. "I mean, if it's the end of something, it has to be important!"

"What's ending?"

"The era, stupid."

He frowned. "It has to mean something. Where did you hear it?"

"When my dad was watching the news. They were talking about space."

His eyes widened. "Do you think that space is ending?"

"Maybe. Era…space…they kind of sound alike…kind of…"

"We have to do something," Neo said, jumping up. "We have to find Buzz!"

"Huh?"

"Buzz Lightyear."

"Where would we find him?" Samantha asked. Honestly, she was just going to wait the whole thing out. Finding Buzz sounded like a lot of work. "Because I have something to do at four."

"What, Samantha? What could be more important than space?"

"Well, there's gonna be a Teen Mom marathon on."

He frowned. "Why would you want to watch that? There's a football game on at four."

"Football is stupid, Neo."

"Take that back!"

"No!"

So they didn't save the peril that space wasn't really going to suffer from. Instead, they argued, the only thing that they would never suck at.

* * *

><p>On Lucas's birthday, everyone showed up. Not necessarily for it, but more of because it was the week of Christmas. It happens every year. You couldn't tell that to Lucas though.<p>

"See, Samantha? This is a real party," he went on. "No one even came to your birthday."

"Yes, they did!" She yelled. James frowned.

"Why do you always have to be mean, Lucas?" He asked. James was very protective over the younger kids, especially his cousin. "Sam hasn't done anything to you."

"Yes, she has."

"What?"

"…She just has, okay?"

"Lucas, behave," Mom told him. I would have, but I had two thing prohibiting me from doing this. Number one, I'm pregnant. Two?

"You never come here," Lance said. "Why, Ella? You're pretty."

I didn't hear her answer, because I walked into the kitchen. Fang was in there with Iggy and Angel's boyfriend. No, not that old dude. She said that she was still with him, but he had gone to Aspen and she had turned him down, secretly taking the trip to see us. What's the point of taking a secret trip if you can't take your secret boyfriend?

"Max, what are you doing?" Fang asked, frowning at me. "Go sit down."

"I don't want to be around her."

Iggy groaned. "How long do you hold a freaking grudge? She offered to blow him once. Move on."

Kris, Angel's boyfriend, pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. "You could sit there."

"Thanks," I told him.

"Don't be fooled," Luther warned, walking in from the backyard. "She's nice to you right now. Just wait."

Lance had apparently finished with Ella because he came into the room with his best friend. Chris giggled at Angel's boyfriend.

"Your names Kris and my names Chris. You stealed my name."

"Stole," Fang told him. We had already heard Chris sat this five times now and he was starting to cross over from cute to torture.

Lance pulled out the chair next to me and sat down. "Hi, Max."

"Hi."

"You guys got any beer?" Kris asked. "We always do at my family stuff."

"No," Fang told him. "Sorry."

"Eh, not that bad of a thing," he said, slipping his hands into his pocket as Lucas came into the room.

"Can we open presents now?" He asked.

"Get Dr. Martinez to help me pass out cake first," Fang said. After everyone had cake, they all went into the kitchen. I asked Luke if I could just stay in here and he didn't care.

"Come on, Chris," Fang said.

"No," he said, getting into the spot that was vacated by Lance. "Stay with Mommy."

"Chris-"

"No! Stay with Mommy!"

"Fine," Fang said, shaking his head at me before going out of the kitchen.

"Why'd you want to stay with me, Chris?" I asked, picking at my cake. I didn't want it anymore.

"You're my Mommy. I love you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Sure it's not so that you can have my cake?"

"Can I?"

I slid the plate over to him. "Knock yourself out."

"Silly Mommy," he said, starting to eat it. "Then I'd die."

"You don't die from getting knocked out, Chris," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Tyler said that he'd kill me by knocking me out."

'What?" I forced myself up. "Where's Tyler?"

"In his room," Fang said as Lucas whined about me running the great opening of presents ceremony. Gag. "Why?"

"I want to talk to him," I said, pushing past Fang when he tried to stop me and started up the stairs. When I got to his room, Tyler was asleep. Groaning from being tired, I went to go lay down on Lucas's bed. I felt a bug crawl on me though and jumped up, screaming a little.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked, sitting up.

"There was a bug."

Tyler frowned. "It is Lucas's bed."

If I wasn't tired, I would have hit him. "Why aren't you down stairs? It's your brother's birthday."

"I spend everyday with him. Sorry if watching him open presents isn't fun to me," he said, standing up. "Here, you can sit on my bed."

"Thanks," I said, laying down. He started to leave, but I stopped him. "I need you to stay in here while I nap, so that they think that I'm talking to you. And put a shirt on."

He sighed, going to do it. "Why'd you come up here anyways?"

"To tell you to stop threatening your brothers."

"Who did I threaten?"

"Chris," I reminded. "You said that you'd knock him out."

"Oh yeah."

"Just stop."

* * *

><p>"What are you getting all dressed up for?"<p>

Tammie glanced at him in the mirror, not wanting to turn just for Luther. "I have a date."

"It's Christmas Eve. Besides, maybe I had plans for us tonight."

"Don't be a girl, Luther," she said, rolling her eyes as she put on lipstick. "Hey, can you pick up some beer next time you're out?"

"I had rented us a movie."

"Call Natasha over to watch it."

"Her name is Naomi, Tammie."

"Whatever," she said, grabbing her purse off the counter before pushing him out of her way so that she could walk out. "I'm probably not going to be back tonight."

"Whatever."

She groaned. "Luther, don't be like that."

Ignoring her suggestion, he forged on. "Are you going out with a guy or a girl?"

"Why does it matter?"

"It just does, okay."

"We're not together, you know," she told him.

"I know."

"Then why do you care?"

He turned the other way and started for his bedroom. "Go, Tammie. See if I give a shit."

It wasn't ten minutes after she left that he walked back out of his bedroom and left the house too.

* * *

><p>"I just figured, since Muslims don't celebrate Christmas that you'd want to hangout with me and bring Adeem," Luther said. "A movie or-"<p>

"Adeem went to New York."

"Even better."

Tabitha sighed, glancing behind her. Max was asleep on Fang's shoulder, while he was busy reading Christmas stories to the younger boys. Lucas was playing with the new Doctor Octopus doll and Tyler was being Spiderman for him. Play wrestling with Gasman was Cody while James was busy telling Nudge, Drake, Amber, and Iggy about some thing he had done with Cody one time. The story was way over the top, but no one called him out on it. Max said that he told big fibs like that because he didn't have a mom or dad. Tabitha just thought that he was a liar.

"Yeah," she said, stepping back a little. "Let me get my coat."

Fang glanced up, but said nothing to her as he continued to read to the four boys. "_He was chubby and plump, a jolly right elf. And I laugh when I saw him, in spite of myself._"

She closed the door behind her, sighing a little. "What movie are we going to see?"

"Huh?" Luther pulled out a cigarette as they went back over to his car.

"You said that we could go to a movie."

"Oh, I was just trying to get you to come with me," he admitted. "Do you want to go to one?"

"No, it's fine," she said, getting into the passenger side. "What are we gonna do then?"

"Eat?" He started the car and turned down the radio. Though she had never admitted it, Luther had an suspicion that she wasn't really into the music he was. "It's Christmas Eve, so a lot of people probably are at home."

"Probably."

"Fast food cool?"

"Yeah," she said, leaning against the window.

It wasn't until they were away from the house that she realized that she was supposed to still be mad at him. What had he done again? She couldn't remember. It had been too long. Sighing, she decided that it was time to forgive him. That is to say that she'd forgive him until he messed up again, which Luther was bound to due. Just give him a little time and he'd disappoint a million people.

"How's school?"

"What?"

He glanced at her. "School. How is it?"

"Good," she said, frowning at him. "Who's at the store?"

"Naomi and Bone."

"Oh."

"You like her, right?" Luther asked.

"Who?"

"Naomi," he clarified. "Like how you didn't like Meredith. You like Naomi, huh?"

"She's alright."

"Good," he said, smiling a little before taking a drag of his smoke. "What's Max having?"

"What?"

"The twins. What are they?"

"Boys. One's name is Drew, I think."

"That's cool."

"I guess."

"Hey," he said, noting her tone. "If you ever want to, know that you can always come stay with me again."

"Okay," she said, though that was never happening. Walking in on Max and Fang was scarring, but Luther was scary.

He lit another cigarette before they got to the restaurant, happy with himself for offering up his home. He was a good person, regardless of what Dan said.

* * *

><p>On Christmas, two things happened. One, Tyler got a call from Alex. Two?<p>

"You what?"

Neo nodded. "Yeah. I want to move in with Dad and Juliet."

Fang stood and crossed his arms. He was standing by the tree, helping Lance put together a train set or something.

"You're serious? You're not just saying that because Gasman told you to say that?"

"Hey," Gazzy said, frowning. "How do you know that he just doesn't want to be with me?"

Fang ignored him. "Well?"

Neo looked scared. "I won't go if you don't want me to, Fang."

"Go wherever the hell you want," he said.

"Fang-"

He was gone, out of the house. Mom sighed, going out the front door behind him. I looked at Neo.

"You know what?"

He sniffled. "What?"

"You're going to have so much fun in New York."

Neo smiled a little. Then Jason threw his new toy car at his friend.

"How could you leave me?" Jason picked up another toy to throw at him, but Drake grabbed his hand. "I hate you!"

Lance looked at me. "Does this mean that I have to share a room with Jason?"

"Not now, alright?"

He nodded before walking out of the room and into the kitchen. If I wasn't concerned with stopping Neo from crying, I would have asked what he was doing.

"I got you," Gasman said, going over to him.

"No!" He yelled, fighting his dad. "I need Fang."

Gasman sat him down and Neo ran to the door, but Fang had left with mom in someone's car.

"He left," he said, staring at the outside.

"Just like you," Jason said before running up the stairs.

I groaned, standing up. "Come on, Neo? You want some cookies?"

Picking up a plate off the side table, I said, "Here."

Chris gasped, staring at me. "Mommy!"

"What?"

"That's Santa's cookies," Neo said, looking at me. "How come he didn't eat them?"

"Because Santa isn't real," Lucas said, mad that Neo's announcement had interrupted his story on how he got the scab on his knee.

"What?" Chris started crying as Neo crossed his arms, getting annoyed.

"Lucas," I scolded. "Why are you always so mean to your brothers?"

"Neo isn't my brother," he said, glaring at me. "I don't have to be nice to him."

Nudge hit him in the back of the head. "You don't talk back."

I didn't hit my kids. Nudge did. Fang hit our kids, but not Lucas, who was one of his favorites. Tears welled in Lucas's eyes.

"Mom!" He called, running to me. I groaned. Big baby…

* * *

><p>Bone looked up as Lance walked into the garage. He had been out there smoking because it was drizzling outside today. Bone hated the rain in any form.<p>

Lance, who hated his father, ignored the man, going over to the corner to pick up Tabitha's guitar. It was acoustic, which made it interesting to Lance. Electric guitar looked cool, but you needed an amp for their full effect. No such fate with acoustic.

"No."

Lance glanced at Bone. Was he talking to him? Ignoring this, he started to walk away with it.

"I said no," Bone repeated.

"Me?" Lance asked in shock.

"Yes."

Ever the defiant little boy, he shook his head. "You're not the boss of me."

Bone didn't like this. "Yes, I am. I'm your father and I said that you're not going to touch it, so put it back. It is not yours and I don't want you breaking it. Now!"

Lance dropped the guitar to the ground and started crying. Bone felt really bad then. He never had thought of himself as a disciplinarian and hadn't liked yelling at his son. Getting onto his knees in front of the boy, Bone brought him into a hug, sighing a little.

"I'm sorry, Lance," he said, holding him tight. "I just didn't want you to break her guitar."

If this was a movie, this would be the part when Lance looked up at his dad and finally smiled at him and hugged him back. Or maybe they'd both cry together. Better yet, Bone would take him out to get ice cream and then move Lance in with him. But this wasn't a movie. No, of course not. This was Bone's life. Not to mention, it was raining.

Just as the drizzle turned into a shower, Lance pushed his father away and ran out of the garage to go find Max or Fang or ever Tabitha at this point. Anything would do, so long as it wasn't that evil man that was trying to ruin his family. Neo was going back to his daddy and now they'd expect him to do the same, but he never would. Never. Bone was mean and bad.

"Max!" He cried, going to join all the other crying boys that he had come to think of his brothers. What type of Christmas would it be without tears?

* * *

><p>You know, God can never just smile on me for once. Just for once. Right now, it was a few days after Christmas and I was busy going through Jason and Neo's closet, picking out Neo's stuff. Neo was leaving tomorrow morning for New York.<p>

"You shouldn't be doing that," Fang said, coming into the room. "Make Gasman. He's the one causing this."

I ignored the hate in that comment and answered it honestly. "He wouldn't know who's is who's. No one does, but me, so I have to do it."

Fang stood in the door way, arms crossed the same way they had been all day, everyday since Neo had made his decision. "We could stop him."

"And what, Fang? Tell him that he can't go home with his father?"

"Exactly."

I shook my head. "Don't be stupid, Fang. We can't keep him from Gasman. What if someone was keeping one of our kids from us?"

"So what, Max? We just let him go? We just let him go and let Gasman fucking hurt him?"

We had gone through this a million times already and I wasn't amused.

"Hurt him how, Fang?" I turned to look at him. "Gasman would never hurt him, stupid."

"I'm stupid? Really?" He snorted, now angry with me. "I'm not the one that's just willingly letting Neo be taken from us!"

"Fang, did you ever think, just once, that maybe this is for the better?" I looked back at the closet. "I mean, he'll miss us and his friends, sure, but there he'll be an only child. He'll have his own room, not have to share his toys, won't have to argue over the last bit of ice cream, or Gasman's attention. Things are just better this way. Sure, it's been delayed, but this was inevitable and you know it."

Fang turned and walked away. I went to follow him, but he went up into the attic and I didn't feel like climbing the stairs just to fight. Instead, I decided that I had done enough packing for the time being and went down stairs. I was halfway down them, when I noticed Neo and Samantha talking.

"But if you go, you won't be here anymore."

"That's kind of the definition of leaving."

She pushed him, making him fall onto his butt. "I'm the one who taught you what the word definition meant."

"Okay."

"And I taught you how to ride a bike."

Not really, she was just there, but I wasn't going to point that out, seeing as they didn't know I was in earshot.

"I know."

"And I gave you my favorite Pokemon card for your birthday."

"Alright."

"And you're just going to leave me?"

He didn't move from his spot on the ground. "We're not even friends, Samantha."

"Yes, we are."

"You always tell everyone that you hate me."

"And? That's what my mom says about my dad and they're married."

Neo held up his hand for her to help him up, but she put her back to him.

"You act like I want to go," he said, still staying on the floor.

"You do."

"Well, yeah, but not all the way," he said. "I'm scared too. I don't want to leave all you guys, but I have to."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do," he said. "My daddy wants me too. Wouldn't you go with your daddy if he wanted you to leave?"

She was breaking and it was obvious. "It's not fair though. You get the leave and have tons of fun while I'm stuck here."

"I'll come back for Christmas."

"It won't be the same then."

Neo stuck his leg out and touched the back of her shoe. "You're still my favorite girlfriend…Kim."

Slowly, she turned and reached down, helping him stand up. "Promise you'll come back?"

"Pinkie promise," he said, holding out his pinkie. She smiled, doing the same. "And I'll even bring you a gift."

"Okay. Two gifts though."

"What?" He frowned, pulling his hand away. "Why two?"

"You'll miss my birthday, stupid."

"I'm not stupid."

She pushed him down again, this time not helping him up. "Come on. I wanna go play with Jason in the garage."

Neo jumped up and ran after her, to play with his two best friends one last time. Sighing, I finished my trek down the stairs and sat down on the couch. I had just turned on the TV to watch the Kardashians, when Lance ran into the room with Chris, bawling his eyes out.

"What?" I asked the two of them. "What's wrong?"

"We broke it," Chris said, holding up one of their new toys. It was a cheap little toy truck that Fang had bought at the dollar store for them. Yes, I do understand that buying toys for Christmas from the dollar store is wrong, but it's not my fault. It's Santa's.

I stared down at it before looking at Lance. "Baby, don't cry."

He sniffled. "I liked it though!"

"I know," I said, leaning over to kiss his head. "Fang'll fix it later. Promise."

Now all better, he ran off with Chris to go play with their other cheap toys that would probably break soon. But hey, Mom did buy them one or two really cool, expensive ones that they would have for years.

I sighed, getting up to go throw the stupid toy truck away. Yes, I had promised Lance that Fang would fix it, but there was no way. They must have dropped something on it, because it was broken in half. I did this with most toys that they destroyed. Give it a few days they'll have forgotten all about them. Just like Tyler probably has no idea that his original Wa-wa had been throw away when he got sick on it and Fang just bought him a new one.

I tossed it into the trash, frowning a little. Stupid little truck. Maybe it was the hormones, but it made my stomach upset to think about. It was broken and couldn't be fixed. Kind of like Bone and Lance, or even James and Luther. Because of one or two stupid decisions there were two relationships that would never be fixed. And why? Because some people are too stupid to fess up to their mistakes and try to fix them. I get where they're coming from, though. Some things can't be fixed and shouldn't try to be. Broken is broken and should always be that way.

When I got back to the living room, Gasman was there. He was sitting in Fang's chair, talking to Juliet, who hadn't come down this year, on the phone. Every other word was great or awesome. He was talking about Neo coming to live with him and how amazing it would be. It made me smile a little as I sat back down on the couch.

Gasman had, in a way, walked on Neo the same way that Luther and Bone had their sons. The only difference was that he was trying to fix it. Though to Fang and me, this might seem like a horrible solution, what other option is there, really? We might have raised Neo, but he was Gasman's and somewhere along the line we had forgotten that. This was a wake up call that we needed, because I have a feeling that one day, Bone and Luther just might decide to try and feel the same thing that Gasman is now.

"Yeah, he's excited too," he went on. "Well, I guess he's upset, but come on, I'm his dad. No. No, Juliet. No. He'll love it up there. Why wouldn't he? He's not his dad. Neo needs me."

Neo's relationship with us might be strong and his one with Gasman broken, but, whether or not I'm welling to accept it, broken can be mended. Though it might not look like it once did, it will be whole again, minus a few pieces here or there. Neo will get older and realize that, yeah, his dad did leave him and might not like him for that, but he'll have to respect that Gasman went back and did right, even if Fang doesn't see it that way.

I got up and went into the kitchen to get something before starting up both set of stairs to the attic.

"I need you to fix this."

Fang looked at my hands. "What?"

"Can't you like super glue it or something?"

Fang shook his head. "I could just buy another-"

"No," I said, staring hard at him. "Fix it."

Sighing, he held out his hands so that I could give it to him. "I'll try. Now go sit down. You look tired."

I sat next to him on the couch. "Are you mad at me?"

"For giving me the impossible to accomplish when I could just buy another truck? Yeah, a little," he said, getting up to go put the truck on a table.

"Fang."

He sighed, looking at me. "It's not fair, Max. He can't just come back and take Neo. That's not right."

"What's not right about it, Fang?" I looked him in the eye. "Gasman isn't forcing him. Neo wants to go."

Fang broke. "But why? Huh? Aren't we good enough?"

I shook my head. "We're good, but we're not his parent's, Fang. You're not his dad and that's what he wants right now. It's not fair, but it's what's going to happen. He's leaving tomorrow. Just don't let him leaving thinking that you're mad at him."

"I hate this," Fang said before running off down stairs. I moved to lay down on the couch and took a nap. What? Just because all of their lives seem to be breaking doesn't mean that my favorite bad habit is broken. I'll sleep until the day I die…and then I'll sleep forever. Hehe.

* * *

><p>"What are you doing up?" Fang walked into the kitchen. "You should be asleep, Neo. You have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow."<p>

Neo looked up. "I was telling Fox and Snickers goodbye."

Fox was laying on the ground, letting Neo pet him, but the female cat was nowhere to be found.

"Well, where's Snickers?"

"I don't know," Neo said, starting to cry. "I wanna tell her goodbye!"

"Stop crying," Fang sighed, watching him. "You can tomorrow, in the morning. Now go to bed."

Neo kept crying. "I wanna tell you bye-bye too, Fang!"

"You can," he said, frowning.

"No. You hate me now."

Fang went over to him and picked the six year old up, even if it did hurt his back. Dang Dr. Martinez, cutting his prescription even lower.

"I do not hate you, Neo," Fang said as he cuddled against him. "Now stop crying."

"But I don't wanna leave you," Neo said, looking up into Fang's eyes. "I'm scared."

"Yeah, well, you made a choice and now you're stuck with it, buddy," Fang said, bouncing him a little. "That's part of growing up. You have to pick one or the other and then follow through with it."

"What if I hate it?"

"You won't," Fang said.

"But-"

"If you do, I'll go down there to get you myself. Promise."

He sniffled loudly. "I'm scared though."

"Another part of getting older, Neo," Fang said, going to sit down, setting the boy in his lap. "If you always quit when you're scared, you'd never get anywhere. If I quit every time I got scared-"

"You never get scared, Fang," Neo said, laughing a little as his tears stopped.

"Yes, I do, Neo," he said. "But I push through it. I preserver. That's what gives you courage. You have to have courage to just leave and go live in New York. You know that, right? You have the most courage out of all the boys."

"Really?" Neo asked, smiling a little at the praise he was receiving. "Even Tyler?"

"Yep," Fang said, nodding his head. "You're the bravest kid in the whole house."

"I'm still scared."

"I know," Fang said, smiling at him. "But once you get to New York and see your dad's apartment and your new room, it'll all be okay."

Neo leaned against Fang's chest. "Will you miss me, Fang?"

"I'll miss you a bunch," Fang said, kissing his head. "But you'll call me, huh?"

"Yep," he said. "Everyday."

"No, you won't. Not everyday."

"Yes, I will, Fang," he said. "I love you."

Fang picked him up and sat him on the ground. "I love you too. Now go to bed."

After he was gone, Fang laid his head down on the table and just listened the noises the fridge made in the otherwise silent house. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't.

* * *

><p>The day that Neo was leaving, we all were out front with him. Gasman had drove down here and they were driving back.<p>

"Don't go," Chris cried along with Lance as they stomped their feet. They weren't sad that Neo was leaving anymore. Now they were mad that Neo got to go somewhere and they didn't.

"Yeah," Lance whined, tears in his eyes.

"And you're sure that you don't wanna wait until later?" I asked Gasman. "You look tired."

"I'm fine," he said, hugging me. "Bye, Max."

"Bye."

Neo looked at Tyler. "Are you sure that I can't have it? Please? To remember you by?"

Tyler groaned, reaching into his pocket and handing the younger boy his Charmander keychain. "Fine. But only because I don't like it anyways."

Next was Lucas. Neo just opened his mouth, but Lucas cut him off.

"Yeah, shut up, because I don't care what you have to say," Lucas said. He was upset because Neo had become the center of attention recently and was jealous. Then was Cody and James, who both hugged him. Chris and Lance had already made their feelings clear, so Jason was after them.

"You can come visit me on Spring Break," Neo offered. Jason still wouldn't look at him, instead focusing on the dog across the street that was peeing. Neo wasn't to be deterred that easily.

"We can stay up late that week and you can see my new room and we can jump on my bed and-"

"Shut up!" He yelled, finally done with this. "I hate you and never want to see you again!"

Jason ran off back into the house. Neo frowned, but just went over to me and hugged me.

"Bye, Max."

"Bye, baby," I said, patting the back of his head. "Have fun."

"Okay."

Fang gave him a hug, but said nothing. Neo didn't seem to mind. He was walking over to the car, when Tabitha, who was had been sitting on the porch steps, moping about Adeem being gone, mumbled something.

"Huh?' He turned to look at her.

"I said, you freaking need a freaking jacket, stupid," she said, getting up.

"I have one in my bag."

"Yeah, well good lot it'll do you in there when you get up North, idiot," she said, walking off into the house. She quickly returned with his favorite one with Goku on the back.

"Oh, yeah," he said, taking it from her.

"Yeah, idiot."

Neo frowned. "I'm not an idiot! I won't be there for a whole day, Tabitha."

"Yeah, and when you got there, you'd be wondering where your favorite jacket was and then remember that you left it at home, just like a stupid idiot."

Neo looked like he was going to hit her for a second before he just hugged her instead. Tabitha didn't hug him back, but she didn't push him away like she usually would. As soon as he let her go, Tabitha sat back down on the steps where she was before, not saying anything else.

"Ready?" Gasman asked Neo.

"Yeah," he said, walking over to the car. "I'm ready."

For the first minute after he pulled away, we all stood there, thinking that it would be like in books where he gets about a block away and breaks down and Gasman brings him back home, where he belonged. It wasn't like that. Not at all.

Fang was first to walk back inside and all the boys soon followed. I watched Tabitha sit there for a minutes before slowly sitting down next to her on the steps, watching the road.

"You know, they all leave eventually," I told her.

"Doesn't matter," she said, jumped up and walking back into the house. "I won't be around for any of the rest of them to leave me."

I could just assume that she meant that she would graduate high school and be gone before any of them left the house, but I knew better. She was throwing another hint down that she was leaving at fifteen. It didn't matter, though. Today was about Neo, no matter how much Tabitha and Lucas wanted it to be about themselves.

* * *

><p>On the same day that the Shadows family was feeling pain, Damien was feeling nothing, but joy.<p>

"See, Cameron?"

"She's crawling, Damien. All babies crawl," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, but this is her first time."

Cameron sighed. "Have you seen Sam today?"

He shook his head. "Is she even up yet?"

"I don't know," Cameron said. "I figured that she would be upset that what's his face is leaving today."

"You mean Neo?"

"No, Damien, the king of Spain."

He ignored her, instead focusing on Vanessa's new ability. "You know, Cameron, I really thought that Neo would because a good piano player."

"He still can," she said. "Now that he's with his dad, he can get him to pay for real lessons. Isn't New York where that famous arts place is?"

"You mean Julliard?"

"Yeah."

He nodded. "Yeah, in NYC."

"I hate people who abbreviate things."

"You said fridge all the time."

She got off the couch. "Whatever, Damien."

"I just meant that Neo won't be a good piano player because he quit," Damien said, wanting to get it out before she walked off.

"What? Why?"

"Because Samantha told him that if he learned from someone other than me, it would be a slap in the face to me and an indirect slap in the face to her."

She stopped on the staircase, if only for a moment. "So he won't because of what she said?"

"Yeah."

Cameron snorted, though she slightly admired her daughter's power over the boy. "They must be some friends."

"Must be."

* * *

><p>"Huh?"<p>

Tammie nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to community college a few towns over and moving into an apartment."

"You could still live here and go."

"I could."

Luther stared into her eyes. "So you're leaving me?"

Tammie groaned. "We were never together, Luther!"

He frowned. "Still. It hurts in here."

He pointed to his chest.

"That's your lungs."

"No, that's my heart."

She looked at the counter. "Fang?"

"You're pointing to your lungs, Luther."

"Well, then it hurts to breath when I think about you leaving me, alright?" He looked down at the floor. "I thought that we had something, Tammie."

"Oh, don't start."

"What do you want me to do? Stop?" He looked her in the eyes. "I would stop breathing for you."

"Look, boy band wannabe, you have a girlfriend."

"Still," he said. "And you really think that I could be in a boy band?"

"You have enough corny lines for it."

"Corny? I think of myself as more horny."

Tammie leaned up and kissed him. "I have to go. My rides waiting."

He frowned, watching her walk out of the door. "See that, Fang? She just leaves me all corny and horny."

"Alright, Timberlake, calm down."

Luther just sighed, going to sit behind the counter next to Fang. As if written for a TV show that needed a little more comedic relief, it was that moment that Naomi chose to walk in.

"You're off today," Fang told her.

"I know," she said, her eyes on Luther. "We need to talk."

"Then talk," he said.

"Uh…we need to take a break."

"A break?"

"Well…I consider us broken up."

Luther just stared at her. "What?"

She nodded slightly. "Yeah, well, see…my dad hates you."

"I only met him twice!"

"Yeah, and he wants me to find a more…traditional husband."

"I'm your boyfriend," Luther said, trying to recall if in one of his drunken mistakes, he had married the woman.

"See, Luther, that's the problem. You want something for fun and I want something long term-"

"You've already found someone else," he said.

"Yeah…and we're happy together."

"Right."

"So…I guess this is goodbye," she said before looking at Fang. "I quit, by the way."

"Thank God," he said, shaking his head. Could you imagine if she tried to still work there? If Luther and her weren't dating, she'd have no reason not to fire him. "Have a good life."

"You too," she said, walking out the door as if she hadn't just broken Luther's heart. And she hadn't, but he sure felt like she had.

"Can you believe that?" Luther asked. "She was two timing me!"

"You were having sex with Tammie and a lot of other women."

"Still," he said, laying his head down on the counter. "I just feel like I'm been depicted into some sick and twisted world where the author enjoys making my life a living Hell."

Fang, still raw from Neo leaving, wasn't offering up and sympathy. "You're on drugs again, aren't you?"

Luther just sighed, not feeling the need to reply. Some things are just a given.

* * *

><p>At four in the morning on New Years, you could find Tyler where he always was. In the kitchen, writing.<p>

"Hey," Tabitha said, walking into the room. "I need to talk to you."

It was dark, but Tyler was able to see because of his night vision. Tabitha wasn't so lucky, but she knew better than to turn on the light.

"I'm busy."

"I know," she said, walking over to him.

"Isn't Adeem coming back today? Don't you need to get up early to go see him? You should be asleep."

"I just finished something more important," she said, giddy with the good news.

"What?" He asked, deciding that she wasn't just going to go away. On Christmas, he had talked to Alex. Though she said that she only called to tell him merry Christmas, he was still on a high from just that and wasn't going to let Tabitha bring him back down.

"I did it."

"Did what?"

"Found her."

"Who, Tabitha?" He asked, slightly annoyed.

"Lydia. Mom," she said, not sure which was appropriate.

Tyler looked back down, writing something in his journal. "No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did," she said, holding out a piece of paper. Tyler took it and stared at the number written on it. "That's her phone number. I just finished talking to her on facebook."

Tyler shook his head. "No."

"Yes, I did," she said, starting to get agitated.

"My mom is already in bed," he said, crumbling up the paper. "And I know her house number by heart, because it's my own and I know her cell because it's the only one in my phone. So go away."

"Why are you so stupid?" She yelled, picking the paper up off the floor.

"I'm not the stupid one," he said, glancing at her. "If you drop this whole thing and don't start the drama with Max and Dad about Lydia, I'll tell you what I write about. Don't you wanna know?"

Yes, she did, very much, but not as much as she wanted Lydia. Though her biological mother didn't know it yet, she would soon be Tabitha's ticket out of the godforsaken town she had been sentenced to.

"I want to get to know my _mom_, more."

"Figured you know Max by now, but fine," he said, closing his journal and standing up. "Go ahead and wreck things, Tabitha. That's all your good at anyways, breaking things. Just because you're unhappy with life doesn't mean that the rest of us are."

"I won't be unhappy when I go to live with Lydia."

"Right, sure," he walking away from her, the thing that she hated the most. "Go ahead, be just like all the rest of them. Leave us, just like Luther did to you and Bone did to all of us. Be one of them. See if I care."

"Fine!" She yelled, trying to make the paper good again. But just like broken things, once something's crumbled, it can't be perfect again. "I'll be just like them. I'll be happy!"

"Go for it," he called, walking up the stairs. "Hope you die in the plane crash on the way to see her."

"I hope so too!" She yelled before looking around the kitchen.

Stupid house. Everyone wants to leave it. No one really wants to be here. Not in this house, not in this town, nowhere near here. The second anyone got the chance they left everyone that they cared about. Why wasn't she allowed to leave too?

* * *

><p><strong>Finished. Think the ending speaks for another story question. <strong>**Unless, of course, I die tomorrow, but I'd rather not think about that.**


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